


Cherry and Atticus's Jungle Adventure

by PerkyGoth14



Category: Hey Arnold!
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-09-30 18:49:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20451872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerkyGoth14/pseuds/PerkyGoth14
Summary: One night in the Dream Realm, Cherry finds an old friend of Arnold who is dreaming about his long-lost parents after finding his father's old journal. This then inspires her and her friends to help finally reunite him with his parents in San Lorenzo, and they have to find a way to get there to begin a new and helpful adventure for the football-headed boy in need.





	1. Chapter 1

We are shown Cherry's house as she was fast asleep in her bed, though she soon woke up and found herself wandering around in the Dream Realm until she saw a door with a certain boy's picture on the door who had a football head. It was Arnold who she, Atticus, and Patch met when they helped save his neighborhood, but also remembered of when he found his long-lost father's journal which had a map of it to a place called San Lorenzo. Cherry couldn't help but feel empathy for Arnold to be separated from his parents when he was just a baby and they hadn't come back home, no one knew if they were dead or alive, but she really hoped that they weren't dead, and she soon opened the door to see what Arnold was dreaming about.

"Grandma! Grandpa! You have to see this! I found a map!" A familiar voice called out before Cherry soon ended up on a plane going towards an island with a familiar looking pilot as he narrated his own dream. "A map: the key to finally finding my missing parents."

"Arnold." Cherry said.

The plane soon landed in the island.

Arnold climbed up the mountain wearing a pilot's uniform. He saw footprints embedded on a path. "This has gotta be them." The boy said to himself as he took off his helmet and flipped through the pages of his father's journal to the map and continued to follow the footprints until he came upon a temple.

"I feel like I'm in an Indiana Jones movie." Cherry said to herself.

As they entered the temple, there wasn't any light so Arnold brought out a flashlight. Cherry looked around as she followed Arnold, though it was unknown to him since this was his dream and all.

"Mom? Dad? Where are you?" Arnold called out as he came upon a room with two large doors kept guard by two giant statues of his grandparents.

The door shines a light and he sees his parents, their faces obscured.

Cherry narrowed her eyes, unable to see Arnold's parents' faces properly, though she felt like she wasn't supposed to.

"Arnold!" The couple called out.

"Mom! Dad!" Arnold beamed to his parents.

"I can't believe how much you've grown." Arnold's mother said, sounding happy.

"And you're still wearing the hat we gave you." Arnold's father said, sounding just as happy.

Cherry gave a small emotional smile for Arnold.

Arnold attempted to approach his parents for a hug, but they disappeared. "Wait. I've been looking for you, trying to find you." he then said, a bit sadly.

"I know," Arnold's mother replied. "What have we missed?"

"Show us the neighborhood." Arnold's father added.

"Looks like I'll have to use my dream-bending powers in this dream." Cherry said.

Arnold looked in the direction of a rumbling volcano in the distance as the scenery started to warp.

"Ah!" Cherry gasped and tried to make sure that the volcano wouldn't hurt Arnold.

"This is really weird!" Arnold cried out. "Mom? Dad?"

"Oh, where did they go?" Cherry asked.

"Yes, Arnold?" Arnold's parents soon replied.

"You've been lost for so long!" Arnold told his parents. "I mean, I always believed you were alive somehow, but-"

An airplane flew over Arnold's shadowed parents and over Arnold's head.

"Stella, Miles, I need you for one last mission!" A man's voice said from the plane as Arnold's parents went to leave with him.

"Wait! Where are you going?!" Arnold cried out.

"We're off on another mission with Eduardo!" Arnold's father replied.

"I better wake up Arnold," Cherry said. "The question is how?"

Princess Luna soon flew by and gave her an orb.

"Do I throw this?" Cherry asked.

"Yes," Princess Luna told her student. "This should wake him up instantly."

Cherry then nodded then tossed the orb like a baseball which made a bright light appear to make Arnold wake up in bed. "Whew! He's awake," she then said. "And a good thing because I doubt he's parents would actually leave Arnold again for another adventure."

"You don't think they could be... Dead, do you?" Princess Luna asked.

"I really hope not," Cherry replied. "Them being gone for nine years is sad enough as it is. I feel like something happened to them. I'm not sure about that friend Eduardo of theirs though."

"You have a good reason to be unsure about him." Luna said.

"I do?" Cherry asked.

"I'm afraid Eduardo has a bit of a dark side." Princess Luna cautioned.

"Uh-oh..." Cherry said.

They soon walked out of Arnold's dream.

"Atticus and I are gonna visit Arnold again later..." Cherry said. "Is Eduardo a traitor?"

"Yes and no..." Princess Luna replied. "I shouldn't say too much though."

"I understand." Cherry said.

"Just be careful of him when you meet him." Princess Luna said, bowing her head to her student.

"Of course I will, Luna." Cherry said with her own bow.

Cherry soon woke up back in the Waking Realm. She then rubbed her eyes and came out to her bathroom. Cleo climbed up into Cherry's bed as she got out of it and decided to curl up into a ball on it to sleep.

"I just know today is going to be an adventure." Cherry sighed as she got her shower out of the way.

"Big day at school?" Cleo smirked.

"Ha, ha, ha." Cherry mumbled.

"Okay, so like your usual adventures." Cleo said.

"Just remember, you can come to school with me as long as you don't wander out or try to steal anything," Cherry warned. "I swear, you take after your mother sometimes."

"Well, she IS Catwoman's favorite~" Cleo smirked about her mother.

"Ugh... I worry about you sometimes." Cherry replied.

"Old habits die hard." Cleo shrugged.

"Yes, I suppose so," Cherry said, grabbing her kitten by the scruff which made Cleo yowl and put her in her backpack as she went to get dressed. "Hopefully school will be interesting before it's time to go, unless Drell does something unspeakable just to get me, Atticus, Mo, and Patch out of school so no one's suspicious of our disappearances."

"Oh, come on, what could he possibly do?" Cleo asked. "Close the school for a month?"

"Heh, like he'd be that crazy." Cherry replied.

They soon left home as Cherry went on to school after saying goodbye to her parents.

"Cherry, you might not wanna head out for school." Michelle said.

"I gotta go though!" Cherry replied.

"But Cherry!" Bud called out.

Cherry soon kept going, ignoring her parents a bit before gasping as she saw yellow tape all over the school. Many other students were shown only to be told to leave and evacuate.

"Drell, you didn't..." Cherry groaned.

Someone in a Hazmat suit soon directed the students away.

"I should've known!" Cherry face-palmed. "How does this school still stand after the toilets getting backed up, getting blown up to smithereens, and now it's gone through septic shock and has to be closed for a month?!"

"Even I'm surprised." Atticus said.

"Now what do we do?" Cherry asked.

"I don't know." Mo shrugged.

"I can tell you what we're in for though," Patch told them as he came back from Puppy School. "Guess what happened?"

"Puppy School is shutdown for a month?" Cherry asked due to what happened to the high school she went to with Atticus, Mo, and Sabrina.

"Yep, and we can already blame who caused it." Patch said.

Drell soon walked by, whistling innocently as he pretended to be a janitor. Atticus, Cherry, Mo, and Patch all looked at him.

"Hey, if I didn't do this, you guys would be in a lot of trouble for missing school." Drell defended.

"Drell, you better have a good explanation." Atticus glared.

"Well, you gotta make a stop in Hillwood first." Drell replied.

"Hillwood... That's where Arnold lives." Patch memorized.

"Let me guess; reuniting Arnold with his parents?" Atticus asked Drell.

"Yes, it's time for you to help him find them." Drell said.

"Please tell me they aren't dead!" Cherry begged. "I saw Arnold's dream last night, and I know we don't know them, but please tell me that they aren't dead! They've been gone for nine years, and Arnold finding them dead will just be devastating!"

"Wow, Cherry, I've never seen you this empathetic before." Atticus commented.

"I just don't want Arnold's parents to be dead." Cherry said with tearful eyes for the football-headed boy.

"They're not dead." Drell said.

"Oh, thank goodness, I was so scared for Arnold, so where are they?" Cherry asked a bit quickly.

"I think it's time for your field trip." Drell soon told them, taking them to his car before taking out luggage for them already packed and ready to go.

"Oh. You shouldn't have." Cherry then deadpanned, sounding like her usual self now.

"Yeah, seriously, you shouldn't have." Mo added.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll just send you all home and you can all be toads." Drell smirked.

"NO!" The group yelped.

"Then let's hit the road." Drell then said to them.

The group soon went into the car.

"Next stop: Hillwood." Drell soon said before driving them off as they sat down and buckled up, being a much better driver this time than when he first drove them around which was pretty much worse than Cruella deVil.

"This is it... We're going to find Arnold's parents..." Atticus said. "I'm so nervous, excited, and thrilled."

"I wonder how Arnold is doing?" Patch said.

"I guess he'll be fine in fourth grade." Drell shrugged.

"Yeah, but we haven't seen him since last year." Cherry clarified.

"Oh... Then I guess he'll enjoy fifth grade." Drell then said.

"Possibly." Patch said.

"You know if he and that Helga girl ever hooked up?" Drell asked.

"Um, I don't know actually," Cherry replied. "She confessed her feelings to him, but I'm not sure if he accepted them or not."

"We'll have to see." Atticus said.

They soon rode along for a while.

As they did that, a certain boarding house was getting ready for the morning as Arnold soon woke up and went to get ready for school, and where everyone in the boarding house seemed to go through a routine.

"I know, Grandpa," Arnold smirked as he saw his grandfather coming out of the bathroom. "Don't go in there for a while."

"Ho, ho! Ya know me so well, Shortman." Grandpa chuckled, ruffling up his grandson's hair.

"Did you wash your hands?" Arnold then prompted like an adult.

"I knew I forgot somethin'." Grandpa said before going back inside.

"Grandpa, I had that dream again." Arnold told him as his grandfather washed his hands.

"Oh? What happened this time?" Grandpa asked.

"My parents were here; well, sort of, and it seemed like they were gonna stay." Arnold explained.

"But then they left on another mission. Oh, I'm sorry, Arnold. I miss them, too, but I'm glad you get to see them even if it's only in a dream," Grandpa replied before walking with Arnold out into the kitchen. "Oh, but it's better than the nightmare I keep havin'. I live in a rundown old boarding house, renting my rooms to a bunch o' weirdos who always want things from me."

Unfortunately for Grandpa, that nightmare was a reality. Plates soon flew out to Arnold and his grandfather.

"Hey, Gramps, what's for breakfast?!" Ernie glared. "I'm starvin' here! Starvin', do ya hear me?!"

"Imagine that!" Grandpa replied. "It's a livin' nightmare."

"Make me a sandwich, old man." Oskar told him.

"Crispy fries and a tofu burger for me, please, and step on it!" Mr. Hyunh added.

"Hey, Arnold, finally someone with some sense around her." Ernie smiled at the football-headed boy.

"Hi, Ernie!" Arnold smiled back to the other borders.

"Hey, Arnold." Oskar greeted.

"Hi, Oskar." Arnold smiled.

"Hey, Arnold, good to see you." Mr. Hyunh greeted.

"Hi, Mr. Hyunh." Arnold replied. He soon bumped into someone it was his grandmother and where she had a sign on her that said "On Strike".

"All power to the workin' stiffs!" Grandma announced, jumping on the table and speaking through a bullhorn. "All power to the proletariat! We demand a living wage!"

"Morning, Grandma." Arnold greeted his grandmother.

"Hello, dear." Grandma smiled sweetly.

"You're not foolin' anyone, Pookie!" Grandpa told his wife. "Back in the kitchen!"

Abner soon came running out of the kitchen to his owner, smiling.

"Abner, I don't have any food," Arnold told his pet pig. "Oh, except this apple here."

"An apple?" Abner grunted out of disgust.

"I know what you want." Arnold then smirked before letting his pet pig have some bacon.

"Now that's more like it!" Abner beamed as he ate the bacon with glee.

"Bye, everyone," Arnold smiled at the others as he left before tossing another bacon at Abner. "Come on, Abner."

"A pig eating bacon?" Mr. Hyunh commented to the others. "It's very creepy."

"See ya, Arnold!" Ernie called out as Arnold came out to meet his best friend out the door.

"Arnold, be well!" Oskar added.

Drell soon pulled up next to the boarding house just as Arnold was about to go to school. "Ah... It looks like we arrived just in time for him to head to school." he then said.

"What'd you do?" Cherry asked. "Have us go to class with him as student teachers like Atticus does sometimes?"

"Actually, I was gonna have you wait in the boarding house until after school, but I like your idea better." Drell replied.

"D'oh!" Cherry face-palmed.

"Thank you for that idea, Cherry." Drell smiled.

Cherry groaned a bit as she sunk in the back-seat. Drell soon turned the car the other way to take them to Arnold's school.

"Hey, Arnold, ready for the best day of school?" Gerald smiled to his best friend.

"The best day, Gerald?" Arnold asked.

"Yeah. Today's the last day of school," Gerald explained. "Therefore, by my calculations-"

"It's the best day." Arnold then smiled.

They soon did their signature thumb's up before walking to school.


	2. Chapter 2

Atticus, Cherry, and Patch looked among the neighborhood, glad to see it still standing thanks to their help from the last time they were here, though they looked a bit surprised to see Big Bob still trying to sell beepers since no one really owned a beeper anymore and almost everybody had a cell phone these days.

"Wow." Atticus said.

"Not much has changed... Though it looks like Helga's dad has gone out of business." Cherry commented.

"Heh, and you kids call me old-fashioned." Drell rolled his eyes about the beeper store.

"I think you still beat him in first place for being old-fashioned." Cherry said.

They soon made it into the school.

"Okay, I guess I did the Math wrong..." Drell said. "It's the last day of school around here."

"Eh, I guess that's alright," Cherry shrugged. "I think Arnold also said that his teacher's name was Mr. Simmons."

"So I guess we're in luck." Mo said.

"Drell, you seem to be slacking off during this adventure a bit." Cherry commented.

Drell sighed a bit. "I'm getting old... Soon I'll have to retire..."

"Of course you're old," Cherry replied. "You knew King Arthur back when he was Atticus's dad's friend, Wart."

Drell looked back to her firmly as that wasn't helping. 

"Erm... Let's get to the school now." Cherry said sheepishly.

"Yes, let's." Drell said.

They soon left the car to get into the school as the students were celebrating the last day of school.

"Alright, now just to get inside." Drell said.

"If we can make it past the flood of kids..." Cherry replied. "Did you at least remember to call Mr. Simmons?"

"Of course, of course," Drell said. "I'm always prepared for before I send you guys anywhere."

"That's good to know." Atticus said.

They soon came to the classroom door before classes started and Drell knocked on the door. A balding man soon came to the door curiously.

"Robert Simmons? I've brought my students along to observe your class, I made a phone call earlier." Drell said.

"Oh! Yes! That's very nice!" The man beamed out of excitement. "A little late in the semester though, aren't you?"

"I got caught up in a few things." Drell chuckled sheepishly and innocently.

"Well, better late than never." Mr. Simmons said.

They soon came into the classroom.

"I'm very excited for my class," Mr. Simmons smiled to his visitors. "I have very exciting news to share with them."

"Sounds exciting." Atticus smiled back.

"Think you can tell us what it is?" Cherry smirked. "Ya know... Confidential information?"

"Oh, I don't know about that." Mr. Simmons smiled sheepishly.

"We can keep a secret." Mo smiled back.

"Well... All right..." Mr. Simmons smiled. "My class has been selected to compete in a very special contest! A great humanitarian organization in Central America that helps the less fortunate is sponsoring it. They build habitats that provide living space in the rainforest. And they wanna celebrate kids that exemplify their spirit!"

"Cool." Atticus smiled back.

"I thought so too," Mr. Simmons smiled. "I was also hoping that the students make a video essay of their own to submit for the contest."

"Is there a prize?" Mo asked.

"Oh, yes, there is," Mr. Simmons nodded. "It would be a class trip to San Lorenzo."

"Cool." Mo smiled.

"That's all I'm saying though." Mr. Simmons said.

"Sure, sir, whatever you say." Cherry hid a small smirk as he pretty much told them everything.

"San Lorenzo..." Atticus whispered to Cherry. "That's the map from Arnold's dad's journal."

"I know." Cherry whispered back.

Eventually, the bell rang as Atticus, Cherry, and Mo were going to hang around in the classroom. Patch peeked out a bit from Atticus's bag to see what was going on, though he looked happy to see Arnold again. And as for Cleo, she peaked out to see what she could steal.

"You guys?" Arnold asked Atticus and Cherry.

"Long time no see." Atticus smiled.

"Hey." Cherry greeted.

"Hey, you're those guys who helped us save the neighborhood." Gerald said.

"Sure did," Atticus smiled. "It's great to see you guys again."

"And this time we brought someone with us." Cherry said.

"Hi." Mo smiled and waved.

"Who are you?" Gerald asked.

"I'm Mo," Mo replied. "Atticus's girlfriend and Cherry's foster cousin."

"Foster?" Harold asked. "What does that mean?"

"I was adopted into Cherry's family." Mo smiled, not sad or ashamed of that fact.

"And where she's pretty cool." Cherry shrugged.

"Aw! Thanks, Cherry!" Mo beamed, hugging the perky goth.

Cherry gave another shrug from that.

All of the students soon came in, talking in excitement for their upcoming summer vacation, but they soon went over some work with Atticus, Cherry, and Mo helping out around the class of a normal school day, though Mr. Simmons planned to surprise them with something before they would leave for the day which would be a very big surprise for Arnold. Cleo wandered out of Cherry's bag, coming towards Rhonda's desk as she took out a new necklace to show to her best friend Nadine and began to reach out for it.

"Gotcha, you little sneak!" Cherry said, grabbing her kitten suddenly.

"Dang it." Cleo groaned.

"Uh, sorry about that, Rhoda." Cherry said.

"Rhonda." The rich girl corrected.

"Uh, okay." Cherry shrugged as she moved Cleo away from the rich girl.

"That necklace was going to be perfect." Cleo pouted.

"Cleopatra?!" Cherry called firmly as she carried her kitten.

"Alright, I'll stop." Cleo complained.

"You are seriously going to be a challenge." Cherry groaned.

"You should train that cat," Mo smirked. "I always know how to handle Si and Am whenever Aunt Sarah comes over."

"How?" Cherry asked.

Mo chuckled a bit.

"Oh... NO! You are not teasing my kitten!" Cherry replied.

"I tried." Mo kept on chuckling.

"Is the day over yet?" Cleo complained. "I thought this was the last day of school. It's time to party! Couldn't we have gone to that Starswirled Music Festival?"

"That's not here yet." Cherry told her.

"So we are going to that?" Cleo asked.

"Yes, but only if you don't steal tickets from people or something." Cherry told her.

"Alright... I'll cool down a bit." Cleo pouted.

"Good." Cherry nodded.

Eventually, it was the final moments of school, thankfully enough, and the students were even more excited about their day.

"All right, class, settle," Mr. Simmons told his students. "I know you're all excited about the last day of school, but get ready for even more exciting news!"

"Is it how I can do this?" Harold asked before putting both his fists in his mouth, making Sid and Stinky applaud reluctantly.

"No, it's not, Harold," Mr. Simmons replied before telling them the news he shared with Atticus, Cherry, and Mo, trusting them to keep it secret until he would tell his students the news. "Anyway, the news is, we've been selected to compete in a very special contest! A great humanitarian organization in Central America that helps the less fortunate is sponsoring it."

Arnold began to look interested.

"They build habitats that provide living space in the rainforest, and they wanna celebrate kids that exemplify their spirit!" Mr. Simmons continued.

"Mr. Simmons?" Phoebe asked as she raised her hand. "What do we have to do to win the contest?"

"Excellent question, Phoebe!" Mr. Simmons smiled. "We submit a video presentation of our class being humanitarians in our own neighborhood!" 

"What's the prize?" Sid asked.

"Curly?" Mr. Simmons summoned one of his students who did a drumroll with his pencils on his desk before he revealed to them the prize. "A class trip to San Lorenzo!"

"San Lorenzo?" Arnold asked Gerald. "Thee San Lorenzo?"

"It's like a sign from above!" Atticus whispered excitedly for Arnold's sake.

"Is that the new Mexican restaurant?" Harold asked.

"Naw. That place has been there a while." Stinky replied.

"Close, Stinky," Mr. Simmons said. "It's a beautiful, proud republic to our South. This is where we'll go if we win the contest."

'And wait for the excitement.' Atticus thought to himself.

"To a Mexican restaurant!" Harold beamed.

Cherry face-palmed from that.

"No. To San Lorenzo, the country," Mr. Simmons reminded the boy. "And the organization that will host us is called 'Helpers for Humanity'."

"That was the group my parents worked for!" Arnold's eyes lit up hopefully.

"And isn't it the same San Lorenzo where your parents disappeared?" Gerald asked. "It's almost like this contest is designed for you."

"Quiet down, jerk-faces!" Helga glared at them. "I'm trying to concentrate on the clock."

And where she wasn't the only one that was concentrating on the clock.

"Typical kids on the first day of school." Cherry smirked.

"I remember when Timmy, AJ, and Chester stared at the clock," Atticus smirked back. "AJ said time waited for no man, then Chester thought he controlled time by making the minute hand move an inch, calling himself The Lord of Time."

"Class, I know you're excited to get to work on this video presentation, even though it's the last day of school." Mr. Simmons began to tell his students.

'Wait for it.' Mo thought to herself.

The bell soon rang as if on Mo's thoughtful cue.

"School's out for summer!" The students announced cheerfully.

"I have a summer of stuff to eat!" Harold beamed.

"So long, suckers!" Helga laughed on the way out.

"You guys going?" Cherry asked Arnold and Gerald.

"There's something I have to do first," Arnold said before raising his hand. "I'll do it."

"Great," Atticus smiled. "Mr. Simmons, when does the contest end?"

"It's due in a week." Mr. Simmons replied.

"Hmm... Should be enough time for a couple of kids to make a project." Atticus nodded to that.

"Plenty of time." Mo agreed.

"A trip to San Lorenzo... What a crazy coincidence." Cherry commented.

"I know!" Atticus beamed. "It's like the Heavens are giving Arnold the chance he needs!"

"Yeah, that's nice and all, but it just feels too crazy to be a mere coincidence," Cherry replied. "I'm not sure who, but I feel like someone is doing this on purpose."

"Hmm... Yeah." Mo nodded.

"Well... I hope your instincts are wrong." Atticus said.

"You want me to be wrong?" Cherry frowned as that sounded not like a friend.

"Ah, don't take it like that, Cherry," Atticus replied. "I just hope Arnold can find his parents.'

"Well... I do too, but I can't fight my feelings." Cherry said.

"Well, then we'll find out later on." Mo said.

Mr. Simmons looked so excited as Atticus, Cherry, and Mo went to go with Arnold and Gerald as Patch and Cleo followed them.

"Okay, we'll make the best video ever." Arnold said to his best friend.

"We'll win this thing, go to San Lorenzo, and find your lost parents." Gerald replied.

"Yeah, but the grand prize isn't a free trip for me to go looking for them." Arnold frowned.

"True, but how can you not try to find your lost parents, especially since you've got your best friend to help?" Gerald then asked.

"Okay, let's win that contest." Arnold laughed to that.

"Not only your best friend, but we'll help out too." Mo smiled.

"That's right." Atticus added.

"It'll be our secret." Gerald told Arnold before doing their handshake with each other.

"Now, you gotta do something humanitarian." Cherry pondered.

"Monkeyman!" A strange man said to himself as he seemed to be doing something which made Cleo and Patch glance to each other curiously.

"I know!" Arnold suggested. "Let's build a habitat for Monkeyman, right here on the river!"

"That sounds perfect." Mo smiled.

"What in the name of abomination is a Monkeyman?" Cherry asked.

"It's a long story." Arnold and Gerald replied.

"You're a bold kid, Arnold." Gerald then told his best friend as they went to get to work.

"This is going to take sometime." Atticus said.

"Oh, yeah, no doubt," Mo replied. "We got a week so we might as well get started."

And so, they did just that as Arnold checked each day off his calendar as they worked on the humanitarian project. Unknown to them, they were taking what belonged to other people.

"Cherry, it's so good to see you helping out." Atticus smiled proudly.

"Hey, I can be a nice girl," Cherry replied. "Why else would you hang out with me?"

"Free food." Atticus smirked jokingly.

"Oh, ha, ha." Cherry rolled her eyes.

Eventually, they were just about done.

"Man, it's been a full week already," Cleo commented before stretching and yawning. "I'd still rather go to the Music Festival."

"We'll go to that, I promise." Cherry told her kitten.

"Fine." Cleo groaned.

"Spoiled brat." Cherry muttered.

It was soon time to film the footage of the new habitat for Monkeyman.

"Where once was a dirty urban riverbank, we've provided a comfortable floating dwelling for one, as well as a habitat for the local bird life!" Arnold's voice narrated.

"Monkeyman!" Monkeyman proclaimed as he flexed his arms as he was shown in the window of his habitat.

Atticus and Mo smiled as Monkeyman looked happy.

"Great, Arnold!" Gerald smiled to his best friend. "Now I'll just shoot some more angles of our awesome completed habitat!"

"Uh, guys, we have company." Cherry said as she saw some angry people coming over.

They soon looked over, seeing the angry homeless people who all complained.

"I was hoarding that!"

"My tire collection!" 

"I'm takin' it all back!"

"They took my stuff!"

"That bird's my lunch!"

"Heh, sorry about that, but you should stop!" Cherry said, trying to make them stop from harming the habitat which would ruin Arnold and Gerald's school project.

Mo soon used her powers of nature to keep the people from ruining the school project.

"Those vine things worry me sometimes." Cherry said.

"They won't hurt anyone," Mo replied. "They're more of constrictors."

"That's good to know." Atticus smiled.

"Do you really think I can finally find my parents?" Arnold asked.

"Call it magic intuition, but I'm sure." Patch winked a bit.

Arnold smiled as it also felt nice to talk to animals after first meeting Atticus, Cherry, and Patch who let him be able to do so.

"Uh, guys?" Gerald spoke up as he saw the people that were trapped with the vines getting free.

"What?" Mo replied.

Gerald soon showed them and they saw what was going on.

"They're ruining Mo's vines!" Cherry complained.

"Wow, those people are very persistent in getting their stuff back." Patch said.

"I guess we did sorta steal them." Cleo replied.

The habitat soon fell to pieces unfortunately enough.

"No! Oh..." Arnold frowned.

"M-M-Monkeymaaaaaan!!" Monkeyman cried out sadly as Arnold made his exit.

"Hey, Arnold, where ya goin'?" Gerald asked his best friend.

"That was my last chance to find my parents." Arnold sulked.

"I'm sure we'll figure out another way to find them." Mo said.

They soon ended up in the park as Arnold spotted several families together which made him feel a little sad.

"I know I have parents now, but I know how you feel a little." Mo softly told Arnold.

"You do?" Arnold asked.

"I used to live on the streets with my dog, Angel," Mo said. "We traveled from foster home to foster home... They would always either move away, have allergies, or have a baby... Every time we felt like we had a home, it would end up being too good to be true."

"That was until they met me and Scamp." Atticus said.

"Angel and I used to see a lot of families together," Mo smiled softly to Arnold. "The thing is, you still have a chance to find your family."

"I guess so..." Arnold sighed before seeing Abner with his leash and decided to take his pet pig for a walk.

"Maybe a walk will help." Patch said.

"Think you'll mind your leash?" Atticus asked.

"Eh, I guess I could wear it just this once." Patch shrugged.

Atticus then gave Patch his leash before they walked together.

'Hopefully I'm right.' Patch thought to himself.

Arnold soon saw a couple of figures before coming to the pier as there was still arguing from the homeless people and Monkeyman. Atticus, Cherry, and Mo sighed from that and decided to ignore it for right now as they followed Arnold home only for him to bump into a certain girl.

'Here we go.' Cherry thought to herself.

"Hey! Sheesh, Arnoldo!" Helga huffed to the football-headed boy. "Watch it! Stop crashing into me!"

"You watch where you're going!" Abner snorted, but of course, she wouldn't hear him talking.

"So, takin' a walk and thinkin' about how you've completely flopped so far in winning the San Lorenzo contest?" Helga then smirked to Arnold. "Ha! This just in: you equals failure." 

"Rude!" Mo complained.

'This girl is an interesting case.' Patch thought to himself.

Abner even seemed to angrily snort at Helga's behavior.

"Actually, I was just kind of thinking about my life, and how I haven't seen my parents since I was a baby," Arnold then told Helga. "I wish I could see them again."

"Well, I--That's news," Helga soon said before seeming to struggle in her speech. "I mean, if you wanted to talk about... Ffffff... Ffffff... Ffffff... Fffff... Ffffeelings!"

"I'm not this bad about expressing myself to you guys, am I?" Cherry deadpanned.

"Nope." Atticus said.

Abner snorted angrily and butted Helga's leg.

"Sorry, Helga," Arnold said before walking away with the others. "I think Abner's gotta do a number two. See ya. C'mon, Abner."

"Thwarted by a dirty, imbecilic pig!" Helga groaned in frustration before taking out a special locket. "All I wanted to do was tell that stupid Arnold... That I'm here for him! I'm listening~ I'm remembering everything he says. Every deep thought, every soul-searching utterance, yes, even every hem and haw! Arnold, I've tried to tell you, but you've yet to show me that you've noticed that you have feelings, too. So I resort to what I do best: being scorchingly mean!" she then kicked a rock which hit her right back in her head. "Ow! Okay! I'll be kind... And, uh, understanding, and--"

Then out of the trashcan came the creepy kid.

As always, Helga punched the daylights out of the creepy kid, and he fell over into the river. "Aha!" she then said, suddenly having an idea. "If I help Arnold win that tip to that crazy San Lorenzo and help him uncover the mystery of his long-lost parents; maybe even find the lost losers, then Arnold will be eternally grateful, and might even return my love! It's win-win! What a great plan! Whee!" She soon took off, completely forgetting that Atticus, Mo, Patch, and Cherry had heard her entire plan as they stayed behind to try and talk with Helga.

"You guys hear that?" Cherry asked.

"Yep." The others replied.

"Think we should do something about it?" Cherry then asked.

"Join in?" Mo suggested.

"Uh... Okay." Cherry replied.

Helga then kept going to where she was going which was to her home.


	3. Chapter 3

"I hope we can still help Arnold." Patch said.

"Oh, don't worry, we will," Atticus smiled. "I promise."

"That's right." Mo nodded.

The group soon decided to see what Helga was up to as she was at a rooftop to take the dust off something which seemed to be like a Bat Signal, but with Arnold's head on it.

"Wow... She's got it bad..." Cherry commented. "She's even got her own Bat Signal."

"Well, at least it's not like she has a shrine to Arnold." Mo said.

Atticus soon used magic to make them all butterflies to spy inside the home a bit.

When they came in, they soon saw that Helga did in fact have an Arnold shrine.

"I take it back." Mo whispered to herself.

"Phoebe, I need a hero video stat!" Helga alerted to her emergency contact.

"Right," Phoebe's voice replied. "Arnold tapes 155E, 17C, 101F. Pulling."

"Arnold tapes?" Patch asked. "Wow, she really has it bad."

They soon saw a video of Arnold and his grandmother saving a turtle from the aquarium.

"Oh, that's right! Arnold even saved that dumb turtle!" Helga then said. "He's helped half the city! I'll show those fancy-pants judges why he's got to win!" she then spoke to Phoebe. "We're gonna need more, but now I need someone to actually make something out of all these."

"Who's she going to find that can do that?" Patch asked.

"I guess this Phoebe girl." Cherry replied.

They were soon shown someone other than Phoebe. 

"Mm-mm-mm... This is an epic story you're asking for, Helga," Gerald remarked. "Where'd you get this footage?"

"Security cameras, okay?" Helga shrugged off.

"Uh-huh. All labeled and organized in perfect sequence," Gerald replied before seeing something shocking. "Whoa! That's Arnold's bedroom! How'd you--"

"Never mind!" Helga yelped, closing her laptop then. 

Cherry couldn't help but snicker at that.

"Okay, major creep factor aside; you know this footage is what we need to win the contest," Gerald said before asking Helga with a smirk. "I thought you hated Arnold?"

Helga looked nervous.

"Why are you suddenly helping him?" Gerald smirked.

"Because otherwise I'd have to watch that stupid football head mope all summer!" Helga then glared.

Gerald and Phoebe soon laughed like they knew something.

"We've got to make this video work so Arnold can get to stupid San Lorenzo!" Helga then said. "It really matters to him, doy! You in?"

"Okay, I'm in, but only if you get everybody to help." Gerald then replied.

"That should be easy for Helga." Patch whispered to the others.

"No problem," Helga soon said, threatening with her fist. "They can just talk to Old Betsy here."

"All right, let's do this." Gerald replied.

"Clever." Cherry commented.

"We also gotta get help from those Atticus and Cherry kids." Gerald then told Helga.

"That's our cue." Atticus whispered to the others.

The others nodded from that, though at least Helga showed she wasn't always a rough and tough bully girl. Atticus and the others soon appeared around the corner.

"Ugh! Are you guys stalkers or something?" Helga asked.

"Oh, we were just in the neighborhood." Cherry winked.

"Anyways, what's up?" Atticus asked.

"Whatya mean 'what's up'?" Helga replied.

"What's up is a greeting from--" Cherry smirked.

"Ugh! Knock that off!" Helga glared. "Anyway... Uh... We need some help for Arnold so he can go to this San Lorenzo trip."

"We'll be happy to help." Atticus smiled.

"Great," Helga replied before shaking her fist. "Or else." 

"Ah, try me." Atticus smirked.

"Trust us, we'll help." Mo said.

Helga nodded firmly to that. While they were helping each other out for the project, Arnold and Abner were on their way home which was a bit of a long one. Everyone kept on working for a rather long while, but luckily had hot chocolate.

"It's taking so long... But hopefully it'll be worth it." Cherry said, sipping from her mug.

"Oh, it will." Mo nodded.

Cherry nodded back as she sipped her hot chocolate and sighed. "That's some good hot chocolate."

"I thought you'd like it," Atticus smiled. "I put in that white chocolate you like."

"Yum." Cherry said.

Atticus beamed brightly while she rolled her eyes from that, though smirked a little.

The next day soon came which turned into night as Arnold and Abner came into their boarding house home.

"Well, that was a long, sad walk I almost rented your room out." Grandpa told him as he opened the door.

"Hi, Grandpa." Arnold sighed.

"Someone came to see ya," Grandpa smiled. "They're up on the roof."

"The roof?" Arnold asked.

"I dunno," Grandpa shrugged. "I just work here, Shortman."

Arnold soon went up to the roof with his grandfather following him. They soon came up on the roof together in surprise to see a crowd together on the rooftop.

"Surprise!" The crowd beamed before chanting the boy's name. "Arnold! Arnold! Arnold! Arnold! Arnold! Arnold!"

"This is incredible!" Arnold smiled from that. "Everyone's here!"

"You better have a seat, Arnold." Gerald suggested.

"Why?" Arnold asked. "What's going on?"

"You'll see." Atticus smiled.

"Lights!" Gerald called out.

Eventually, the lights came out to show a video as it started and a sign was held that said "THE LEGEND OF ARNOLD" on it before showing Sid on screen first in front of the boarding house.

"The Legend of Arnold will be passed down from kid generation to kid generation and onward, and Gerald is the Keeper of All Legends, the Teller of All Tales," Sid began before Arnold's best friend was shown on screen next. "Take it away, Gerald."

"Ahem... We call him 'Arnold', friend to all, force for decency, doer of good," Gerald began as various clips were shown of Arnold doing good things to help out his friends in need. "He's the most dependable, trusty, true blue friend I can ever imagine. Help you in a second, no questions asked. And I know plenty of others say the same. Let's hear from some people who Arnold has helped."

Helga saw how happy Arnold was and smiled before continuing to watch the clips.

"I would've never left my stoop," A boy said as he seemed to be sitting near City Hall. "And now look at me, sittin' on the biggest stoop in the city, and it's all because of Arnold. Now I can harass people from my stoop, and from off my stoop!" he then laughed from the last part. "Anyway, guy's got a great heart."

"That was interesting." Cherry commented about him.

"That's Stoop Kid." Gerald told her.

"He helps me get over myself," Rhonda said as she took selfies on her phone. "Now I'm tolerant, gracious, and self-effacing. Oh, and humble. I'll get a copy of this, right?"

"Yep, she's humble." Mo said as she deadpanned.

"Arnold put me back together with my old partner Don, and remade my career," A man smiled as he was on stage with another. "I get applause from fans, but Arnold's the real star, baby!"

"Dino Spumoni?" Cherry blinked. "I thought he was dead."

"Arnold helped me escape the cage of my old rooftop habitat," A strange man smiled as he was shown to be in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral with pigeons flying all around him. "Now, I'm as free as a bird! Merci, Arnold."

'That guy sure likes his birds.' Patch thought to himself, referring to the strange man.

"Arnold listened to me and treated me just like another friend," A girl who looked quite big for her age said as she seemed to be bullying another girl. "He's, y'know, pure of heart. I'll never forget that, Arnold."

"Uh... No comment." Cleo remarked.

"I can inaudibly say that the over-esteemed Arnold put the 'Coach' back into 'Coach Wittenberg'!" A man beamed on screen.

'That's good to know.' Atticus thought to himself.

"I was a one-dimensional bully until Arnold showed me my sensitive side." Harold said on screen.

"It's something." Cherry shrugged.

"Arnold?" Curly replied. "Never heard of him!"

'Typical trying to act cool behavior.' Mo thought to herself.

"Arnold almost killed me." Eugene said.

Atticus, Cherry, Mo, Patch, and Cleo winced from that. 

"But then saved my life, got me a new fish, kept me from going bad..." Eugene then continued before beaming. "Thanks, Arnold! What a pal!"

A pigeon then attacked him on film and he was soon bandaged up. 

"I'm okay!" Eugene then said.

'He sure is an interesting person.' Patch thought to himself, referring to Eugene.

"And we call Discord klutzy." Cherry muttered to herself.

There were other clips then shown of Arnold helping out.

"Pure of heart. That's Arnold," Gerald said during the footage. "And that's why he deserves to win the trip to San Lorenzo, because he's done so much for others. He's a humanitarian, just like his parents, and they help us through humanity."

'He's right about that.' Patch thought to himself.

"Monkeyman!" Monkeyman proclaimed. 

"Hey, Arnold," Gerald smiled, sitting on the boarding house porch with the rest of his and Arnold's friends together. "You're a bold kid, and a true hero."

Stinky and Harold tried to moon the camera which made everyone gasp until Sid put out a "The End" sign on screen. Everyone then clapped and cheered from the video as it looked great.

'Thankfully we ended the video there.' Cherry thought to herself.

"Thank you all so much!" Arnold smiled tearfully to the others. "But aren't we too late to enter the contest?"

"I have wonderful news, Arnold!" Mr. Simmons smiled from that. "Once the Helpers for Humanity saw this video, we were immediately selected to go to San Lorenzo! That's right! We won!"

Everyone else soon began to cheer, though Arnold's grandparents looked slightly concerned.

"Don't worry, Arnold is in good hands." Mo assured Arnold's grandparents.

"Yes, I have every minute planned out for this trip," Mr. Simmons added. "Getting anyone lost is definitely not on this agenda!"

"Mm... You ever travel with a dozen kids before?" Grandpa asked him. 

Mr. Simmons looked sheepish from that.

'He's got him there.' Patch thought to himself.

"I know this video wouldn't have happened without you, Gerald," Arnold beamed to his best friend. "I can't thank you enough!"

"You should thank Helga," Gerald replied. "This was her idea. You should see all the videos she has of--"

"Of the things!" Helga interrupted sheepishly. "Ha! Around the city, amazing! Anyway, it's done. We're going to San Lorenzo."

"Wow! Thank you, Helga." Arnold beamed, putting his hand on her shoulder. 

Patch and Cleo saw sparks flying from that.

"Heh, reminds me of when Salem told me he saw sparks flying from Harvey and Sabrina during their first Valentine's Day together." Patch smiled to Cleo.

"Did one of them shiver slightly?" Cleo asked.

"Probably Sabrina because she was bashful at the time." Patch replied.

"Hmm..." Cleo paused from that as she was a bit younger than him.

"Oh-ho! And I... Have to go wash my socks!" Helga said sheepishly before running off from Arnold.

"I have a good feeling about this." Mo smiled.

"This is gonna be quite the trip." Cherry said as she pet Cleo in her arms.

"Yep." Atticus nodded.

"I'm not sure if animals are allowed on the trip." Mr. Simmons commented.

Cleo let out a sad yowl from that, not wanting to leave Cherry. Patch soon whispered something to Cleo.

"Hm?" Cleo replied.

"Just trust me, okay?" Patch whispered to her. 

Cleo narrowed her eyes, but shrugged as she would wait to see where this would go, but unknown to them, someone evil had watched the news and found who he was looking for.

"So that's the story!" The newswoman announced. "A football-headed kid wins the contest and gets to go with his whole class to the Central American country of San Lorenzo!"

A man's voice chuckled darkly as this seemed to be exactly what he wanted.

Meanwhile, Atticus, Cherry, and Mo met with Arnold in his room as he showed them his father's journal.

"I gotta say, Arnold, your old man sounds pretty amazing." Mo smiled.

"Thanks." Arnold smiled back as he closed the journal.

"Well, Shortman, your passport's here." Grandpa told his grandson.

"All right!" Arnold beamed about to take it. 

"Ah-ah-ah-ah! Not yet!" Grandpa told him, holding it back. "Now, Arnold, I'm still worried about your taking this trip. Remember all the trouble your parents got into with that evil river pirate La Sombra?" he then sighed. That was practically the last time we heard from them.

Arnold then snatched the passport from his grandfather's hands. 

"Oh, fine," Grandpa replied. "Don't forget to sign it with your name as it appears on your birth certificate."

Arnold soon began to sign his name on the passport.

"'Arnold Shortman'..." Mo read aloud.

Cherry and Atticus did a double take like they found an important discovery and secret unknown to the world.

"Grandpa, San Lorenzo is a big country," Arnold told his grandfather. "I'm not going to look for this 'La Sombra' guy, and I doubt if I'm gonna run into him."

"Yeah, and it's not like he's been looking for Arnold." Cherry said.

"Let's hope not!" Grandpa replied. "This is just a school trip to visit the rainforest, not about you finding your parents."

"Don't worry, Grandpa. I'll stick with my class, Atticus, Cherry, and Mo the whole time, but since I'll be in San Lorenzo, I have to at least look up Eduardo," Arnold replied. "He was my mom and dad's best friend." 

"Eduardo... He brought your parents on missions..." Atticus memorized from when they read the journal together one night after helping save the neighborhood.

"That's right." Arnold smiled from that.

"He might have some history to share." Mo said.

"Well, you could at least do that." Grandpa sighed a bit. 

Grandma soon kicked the door open dressed as a French general and blew a trumpet poorly. "Venture forth armed with this, Kimba." she then told Arnold, giving him a special tool. 

"Pookie! Arnold will never get a handmade blowpipe through security!" Grandpa told his wife before he then rummaged through Arnold's drawer, taking out a stapler. "Oh, and, uh... Here, Shortman. Take this instead. It'll remind you of home."

"Um, thanks?" Arnold replied.

"Just be careful, Arnold." Grandma and Grandpa warned their grandson.

"He'll be perfectly safe." Atticus smiled.

"He probably won't disappear like his parents." Cherry said.

The others then looked at her.

"...Is that not helpful?" Cherry replied.

"He'll be fine." Atticus told Arnold's grandparents.

The two still looked unsure, but tried to be supportive for their grandson. Everyone soon went straight to bed as tomorrow was going to be a big day for them all.

"So, what you're saying is, we sneak aboard with Atticus and Cherry?" Cleo asked Patch as he was about to fall asleep.

"Yes." Patch nodded.

"You make it sound so easy..." Cleo replied. "And they won't know?"

"The other humans won't anyway," Patch chuckled. "Haven't you seen Secret Life of Pets?"

"Of course I have." Cleo smirked.

"Anyway, none of the other humans won't know." Patch smiled.

"Right," Cleo smirked. "Plus I'm a cat, so I'm a natural at being sneaky and stealthy like my mother or Selina."

"Just don't start stealing." Patch said.

"Would I do that?" Cleo gave a very cute anime smile with big eyes sparkling to look cute and innocent.

"Yes." Patch said, unaffected.

"Reeeally?" Cleo asked.

"Good night, Cleo." Patch smirked.

"Night." Cleo grumbled.

Patch rolled his eyes before drifting off to sleep. Cleo then went to play around for a bit as she was a curious, nocturnal kitten and all. She began to wander around, looking for something to play with. This would take a bit of a while.

The next day soon came at the airport as everyone got ready to leave for San Lorenzo.

"Wow, that's a lot of luggage." Mo said as she saw Rhonda's luggage.

"You think that's enough?" Cherry added, putting on some sunblock since she had sensitive skin.

"One bag for every day of the trip," Rhonda smiled proudly. "That's how I pack."

"Good to know." Atticus said.

Mr. Simmons smiled to a friend of his who hugged him goodbye before looking to one of his students. "Harold, why do you have a deli platter?" he then asked.

"My mom gave me this in case there's no food in San Lorenzo." Harold replied.

"There's plenty of food there, Harold," Mr. Simmons told him. "No platter necessary."

"No platter?" Harold asked before eating one of the sandwiches, then put the rest in his pants and threw the platter away. 

"There ya go." Cherry deadpanned.

"That's a way to save food." Mo said.

"Oh, Arnold! Though on the outside, I appear to hate the idea of going to some godforsaken jungle with you, just merely a guise," Helga said, speaking to her locket lovingly. "I'll help you find your long-lost parents. And just maybe--"

"Surprise, Baby Sister!" A young woman beamed, coming to Helga, giving her a hug. "I'm coming along on your San Lorenzo trip as the student teacher/chaperone! Goody!"

Atticus, Mo, and Cherry soon came by to see her.

"Hello, there!" The young woman smiled. "Are you all friends with my little sister?"

"You could say that." Atticus said.

"My name is Olga." The young woman smiled.

"Um, hi, Olga, it's nice to meet you." Cherry said, trying to be polite.

"Yeah." Mo smiled.

"I'm worried about your safety in this Saint Lawrence place, Olga." Big Bob soon said.

"I'll be fine. Thanks, Bob." Helga said, butting in a bit.

"Oh, good. You're here," Big Bob said, giving his younger daughter a very heavy bag. "Take this bag of beepers with ya and sell 'em to the locals." 

"Father of the Year." Cherry muttered.

"He sure cares about Helga." Mo whispered to Cherry sarcastically.

"Oh, yeah, almost as much as parent sharks who abandon their young at birth." Cherry whispered back in the same tone.

"Arnold, you're going to the jungle," Grandpa warned his grandson as it was almost time to go. "So don't catch any tropical diseases like malaria, or diphtheria, or cholera or yellow fever, or hookworm, or elephantitis, or leprosy, or tennis elbow or itchy armpits, or boom-boom fever, or Alder's neck rash!"

'Okay, he seriously needs to calm down.' Patch thought to himself from inside Atticus's bag.

"Hey, crazy lady!" A crewman cried out to Arnold's grandmother who laughed dementedly. "Get outta my stair truck!"

"Or Palmer's knee, or Borneo's disease, or, I don't know, athlete's foot!" Grandpa called out as he tried to catch up with the plane as it was about time for take off.

"Will you calm down?! Arnold will be fine!" Atticus told him.

The plane soon went off to take the ones there all the way to San Lorenzo.

"Y'know, I'm really gonna miss Grandma and Grandpa." Arnold commented as he held his bag.

"Well, you do have something that your grandfather gave you in case you missed them." Mo said.

Arnold smiled from that before feeling his bag moving as he opened it up to see a certain pet of his. "Abner! What are you doing here?" he then asked.

"Hey, Arnold!" Abner squealed happily and licked his face.

"Guess your grandpa wasn't gonna let you leave your pig behind, Arnold." Gerald commented.

"Yep. I guess we've got a stowaway." Arnold laughed happily.

"Not just Abner." Patch's voice muffled as Atticus's bag moved.

Atticus soon opened his bag before smirking a bit.

"Surprise." Patch smiled to his owner.

"Somehow, I knew you would come along." Atticus smiled back.

Cherry then checked her bag to see Cleo in there.

"Turn out the light, please." Cleo said, curled up into a fluff ball.

"You two getting along okay?" Atticus asked.

"Cleo sure is interesting," Patch replied. "I'm not sure if Krypto would trust her or not though if he could meet her since she's one of Isis's kittens."

"So who's the father?" Mo asked.

"Who's the father?" Patch repeated.

"Yeah, who's Cleo's father?" Mo asked.

"Some alley cat from what Selina told me," Cherry replied as she covered her bag to let Cleo take her nap. "I came to visit Bruce one time and she came and decided one of the kittens could be my own little Isis after she had a litter."

"What color fur did he have?" Patch asked.

"How should I know?" Cherry shrugged.

"Didn't you ask?" Patch asked.

"How would Selina know?" Cherry replied. "This conversation is dumb."

"Well, it is kinda important to know every detail." Mo said.

Cherry shrugged as she didn't know what to tell them.

"Anyways, let's relax." Atticus said.

"Oh, can we?" Cherry rolled her eyes. "You sure you don't have any more unnecessary questions to ask?"

"No." Atticus said.

Cherry glanced at him before putting on her headphones and began to tune out a bit until they would land.

"This is going to be a great trip." Patch smiled.

"Just make sure no one sees you so we don't get in trouble," Atticus smiled back. "You're not scared of flying, are ya?"

"Maybe a little, but I'll be fine as long as I'm with you." Patch beamed bravely.

"That's good." Atticus smiled.

Patch smiled back, nuzzling up a bit.

Atticus pet his dog while glancing out the window. "We're coming, Arnold's parents, I promise." he said softly.

Patch knew that Atticus would be able to reunite Arnold with his parents with some help from Cherry, Mo, himself, and Cleo. Drell soon came to sit in his seat.

"Hey, where'd you come from?" Atticus asked. "You seemed to disappear after we went to Arnold's school."

"I wanted to make sure if you had that special package with jungle exploration stuff." Drell said.

"Oh! Uh... Um..." Atticus stammered, unsure at first.

"I got you guys covered for that." Drell then whispered as that was a bit of a rhetorical statement.

"That's good." Atticus whispered back.

"At least you've made it this far in the trip to find Miles and Stella." Drell said.

"That's true." Atticus nodded.

Drell gave a small smile.

"Zelda used to hang around them, huh?" Atticus smiled back.

"Oh, yeah, they were pretty close back in the day," Drell replied. "Zelda's always been an explorer type, especially uncovering certain parts of the world and finding old bones that had been buried for centuries."

"Whoa." Atticus said.

"There's a lot you don't know, Atticus, that's why you go to school!" Drell said.

"Wow." Atticus then rolled his eyes before from that.

"Now... I better leave this plane..." Drell said, about to leave. "Uh... This is up to you guys now."

"Thanks, Drell." Atticus said.

Drell gave a small smile before he magicked himself away. Atticus smiled back before deciding to sleep the rest of the way since almost everyone else was.

"This shall be quite an interesting adventure." Cherry said.

"Mm-hmm..." Atticus replied sleepily. "I'm really looking forward to seeing Arnold's parents."

"I'm just curious of why they'd spend nine years there instead of coming back home." Cherry said, almost firmly.

"I'm sure there's a reason." Atticus said sleepily.

"There better be a good one..." Cherry replied. "They sounded like nice people."

Atticus nodded before leaning back and fell asleep.

"Well, I better get to work." Cherry said. She soon fell asleep, holding onto her special dream-catcher, and soon came into the Dream Realm.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hmm... Where to start? Where to start?" Cherry pondered to herself as she began to look through the many doors. She peeked in through Patch's door, just curious since it was always interesting to see dreams from a dog.

For some reason, Patch seemed to be dreaming about the big city with a bunny rabbit who seemed to be evil.

"Patch, you have issues," Cherry commented, not finding the bunny rabbit scary in the slightest. "Seriously, what's so scary about this bunny rabbit?"

The bunny rabbit was then shown to be evil and attacking Patch before Oddball was shown with a pair of other dogs, one being a Jack Russel Terrier and the other one being a very big brown and fuzzy dog that almost looked like a bear. Cherry's eyes widened from the bunny rabbit before backing away and shutting the door as she went to go see someone else's dream.

Not surprisingly, Atticus was dreaming about Equestria, seeing himself and all of his friends together for Twilight's crowning to take over for Celestia and Luna for when the time would be right.

"Shouldn't be surprised by this." Cherry said.

The door then shut.

"Aw, come on!" Cherry complained. "Atticus can see the future, but I can't?!"

"Sorry, Cherry." Princess Luna told her student.

"Hmph..." Cherry rolled her eyes a bit. "Uh, can you at least tell me about that bunny that attacked Patch?"

"Ah, yes, Snowball..." Princess Luna replied. "He is a leader of an animal gang called The Flushed Pets."

"Yikes." Cherry said.

"I'm not sure if you'll be involved with that one, considering Patch is there with Oddball." Princess Luna replied.

"Well, I do kinda like Oddball even if she is a dog." Cherry shrugged.

"She certainly is nice." Princess Luna smiled.

"I never knew Dalmatians could be born without spots though," Cherry shrugged. "I guess it's a rare dog thing."

"That must be it," Princess Luna replied. "I wouldn't know for sure myself."

"I'm having that weird feeling again the closer we get to San Lorenzo." Cherry said, holding her stomach a little.

"I think you should take a look into this dream door." Princess Luna frowned as she looked at a door that had Eduardo's name.

"Are you sure I can look through this one?" Cherry asked.

"Yes, this seems very important." Princess Luna replied, going to let Cherry check out Eduardo's dream.

Cherry soon went to Eduardo's dream door before opening it. Princess Luna stood back by the door just in case Cherry would need assistance.

"No... It's wrong... It's all wrong..." The sobbing of a man's voice could be heard.

Cherry soon came closer into the light to show that Eduardo looked devastated and depressed about something.

"This is the guy that I have a weird feeling about?" Cherry asked herself. "He doesn't look evil."

"It's horribly wrong..." Eduardo frowned. "I have to warn Miles and Stella."

"Warn them of what?" Cherry wondered.

"La Sombra is loose..." Eduardo continued to himself.

"Hmm... I wonder..." Cherry pondered to herself before going off to La Sombra's dream door.

"Cherry?" Princess Luna asked.

"I have a theory, so it must be tested." Cherry replied bravely.

Princess Luna felt concerned, but let Cherry go as this seemed important.

"Alright, La Sombra, despite sharing the name of my best friend's 'evil uncle', what else are you hiding?" Cherry narrowed her eyes a bit.

The sound of evil laughter filled the air as Cherry came to explore before showing a man who nearly looked like Eduardo, though minus the facial hair. "Those Green-Eyed People and that football-headed boy don't know what they're in for," he then grinned evilly to himself. "Especially with The Corazón at hand."

"Corazón?" Cherry asked out of confusion. "Must be important."

"It's a very special relic." Princess Luna said.

"Is it Equestrian?" Cherry asked.

"No, it's from your world, but I believe Sunburst read about that once." Princess Luna informed.

"So then what makes the Corazón so special?" Cherry asked.

"Let's see..." Princess Luna paused in thought. "It's a very special item to these Green-Eyed People, they view it as highly valuable and it can even summon rain."

"Whoa." Cherry said.

"La Sombra once took it before." Princess Luna said.

"Hmm..." Cherry replied, though waited in case there was more.

"Luckily, a certain couple was able to send it back to where it came from." Princess Luna then smiled.

"Arnold's parents." Cherry said.

"Yes," Princess Luna confirmed. "Hopefully it can be restored, along with helping Arnold's parents."

"I hope so," Cherry replied. "I better tell everyone what La Sombra is up to when we wake up!" she then suggested, feeling that would be the right thing to do.

"Hmm... I'm not sure about everyone..." Princess Luna said.

"But that's the right thing to do!" Cherry replied "...I think."

"Yes, but if you tell everyone, how will they react?" Princess Luna asked.

"They'll be proud that I figured it out." Cherry replied.

"What about Arnold?" Princess Luna asked.

"...Oh... I guess that would be bad for him..." Cherry then said, now seeing a problem.

"So?" Princess Luna asked.

"Fine... I won't tell EVERYBODY..." Cherry replied. "I have to tell someone though."

"I suggest you tell Atticus since he's you best friend." Princess Luna recommended.

"Hmm... All right... I guess I could do that." Cherry shrugged.

"You tell him everything, don't you?" Princess Luna asked.

"Yeah, that's true." Cherry said, having a small bashful smile from her closeness with Atticus.

"And you will need to be there for him if he should ever lose his memories." Princess Luna frowned.

"Luna, why would you say something like that?" Cherry pondered.

"Atticus is part Crystal Pony which means he will be affected by weapons from Homeworld." Princess Luna told him.

"Home world...?" Cherry asked. "Whose home world?"

"Not A home world, THE Homeworld." Princess Luna clarified.

Cherry paused for a moment until it hit her where she heard that place before. "Ohh! You mean like the Crystal Gems' Homeworld."

"Yes, and you must be warned one of the weapons is so fatal that it could set Atticus back to when you two first met." Princess Luna told him.

"Send him back in time?" Cherry asked, confused at first.

"No, I mean it might make him his younger self to around when you two first met when you were little kids." Princess Luna explained.

"I never thought any of this would happen..." Cherry said, a bit overwhelmed. "I don't know what to think or how to feel about this."

"Just be careful when you meet Spinel." Princess Luna told her.

"That tough girl from Third Street School?" Cherry asked.

"Not Spinelli... Spinel," Princess Luna clarified. "You know, like the gemstone?"

"I've never seen a spinel stone, but alright." Cherry then nodded as she would try to remember that name for later.

"Good, now be ready; everyone will be waking up in a few moments." Princess Luna said.

"All right," Cherry replied. "Thanks, Luna. I'll do my best for you as your student until you and Celestia are done being princesses."

"Good luck, Cherry." Princess Luna told her student.

Cherry nodded while on the way out since it was time to wake up, so everything began to fade a bit.

Cherry then woke up as everyone else did as the plane began to go down the runway into the San Lorenzo airport.

"We're finally here." Mo said.

"I feel like I've been on this plane my whole life." Atticus chuckled wearily.

"Yeah... Cool..." Cherry replied, still thinking about what she was told from Princess Luna.

Everyone soon went to get off of the plane as Rhonda tried to take a selfie, but then her hat came off her head, making her hair stand on end, so she cried out. "My hair!"

Cherry simply rolled her eyes at that.

"You know what they say, Rhonda," Nadine said to her best friend before quoting. "'It's not the heat. It's the humidity'."

"Class, let's stay together while we explore, and then go to the river docks at 3:00 PM, then it's on the boat, and--" Mr. Simmons told his students before they began to run off on their own. "Stop! Running is not on the agenda! River docks at 3:00!"

"He needs to lighten up." Cherry said.

"Uh, don't worry, Mr. Simmons," Atticus said. "We'll make sure that the students come back in time."

"Oh, thank you, Atticus." Mr. Simmons smiled from that.

"You can count on us." Mo smiled back as she stood by Atticus.

The students soon rode off on their own and Atticus and Mo began to go after some of them.

"Come on, Baby Sister!" Olga giggled to Helga.

Cherry soon shuffled to go up by Atticus and Mo, rubbing her arm a bit as she thought about what she saw with Princess Luna.

"How are we going to keep an eye on all these kids?" Cherry asked.

"We can split up," Atticus smiled. "I'll keep an eye on Arnold."

"Oh, but no fair," Cherry rolled her eyes. "He's like the easiest kid to keep an eye on."

"Oh, come on, Cherry; I'm sure the rest of the kids will just be as easy." Mo smiled.

"Uh... Yeah... Sure." Cherry replied.

"You feeling okay?" Atticus asked, feeling her forehead. "You're acting kinda funny."

"I guess I just had a big night when we fell asleep on the way over here." Cherry said softly.

"Any nightmares?" Mo asked.

"A warning." Cherry replied.

"Equestria?" Mo asked.

"No." Cherry said.

"Gotham and/or Metropolis?" Atticus asked.

"No." Cherry said.

The couple looked to each other, pondering what could be wrong then.

"Spinel." Cherry then said.

"You mean like the gem?" Atticus asked.

"I guess I do," Cherry replied. "It might be very serious. Princess Luna says this might be critical for you since you're part Crystal Pony."

"Whoa." Atticus said.

Cherry rubbed her arm a bit.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm sure I can take it." Atticus smiled.

"She just sounded so serious and it sounded so scary for you," Cherry said. "You might forget about everything."

"What do you mean?" Mo frowned.

"Princess Luna said that I might have to help Atticus keep his memories." Cherry said.

"Oh, but I couldn't lose my memories." Atticus replied.

"You might with Spinel around." Cherry warned.

"This Spinel... They're not around right now, are they?" Atticus asked.

"Well... No." Cherry said.

"I wouldn't try to worry about it now," Atticus replied. "Let's focus on Arnold until we might have to see this Spinel. I appreciate you telling me this though."

"No prob." Cherry said.

"So, shall we go see Arnold?" Atticus suggested.

"Hmm... I guess that would be alright." Cherry replied.

"Alright, let's split up." Mo said.

"Yeah." Patch's voice muffled from inside Atticus's luggage.

"I guess I could let you out." Atticus said, opening the bag Patch was in and let his dog wander out a bit.

"Should have known." Cherry said.

Patch then looked up to her, stretching a bit.

"I'm calling PETA." Cherry said before letting Cleo out to go on the ground with Patch.

"So... This is San Lorenzo... Interesting..." Cleo said as she look around.

"Yep, sure is." Patch replied.

Mo soon wandered into the market as Nadine showed Rhonda a scorpion which scared the rich girl, going up against Curly who looked happy to see her.

"Well, Arnold, we made it to San Lorenzo," Gerald said to his best friend. "So, where do we start looking for your parents?"

"Sorry, Gerald. I promised Grandpa I wouldn't, but he did say I could find their best friend, Eduardo." Arnold replied.

"And we'll help." Cherry then said as she came over.

"That's right." Atticus nodded.

"Thanks, guys," Arnold smiled. "You're very helpful, huh?"

"We try anyway." Cherry replied.

"I found this old envelope with Eduardo's address on it. Here it is!" Arnold said, getting to the house and knocking on the door, but surprisingly, it was still open.

"That's never a good sign." Atticus said.

"Um, hello?" Cherry called out a bit. "Anybody home?"

Arnold and Gerald surveyed the house, which was a mess, and the TV was still on, showing a soccer game.

"What happened?" Arnold pondered. "It looks like Eduardo kind of left in a hurry."

"That or someone broke in while he was watching TV." Cherry said.

Patch, Cleo, and Abner began to wander inside with their owners to explore Eduardo's home in shambles. Abner made his way toward a framed photo of Miles, Stella and Eduardo, with Eduardo's face torn out which made him sniff and squeal anxiously.

"Abner, what is it, boy?" Arnold asked his pet pig.

"I dunno what's buggin' Abner, but we better get back to meet Simmons, Arnold," Gerald replied. "We can't miss the boat."

"I think I know what's bugging Abner." Atticus said as he picked up the framed photo.

"Weird... Eduardo's face is missing..." Cherry commented.

"Now why would he do that to his own picture?" Atticus wondered.

"I doubt he has low self-esteem like I do." Cherry shrugged.

"Unless someone else did that." Patch said.

Cherry looked away shyly then like she knew something.

"We should get over to the boat." Gerald suggested.

"Right." Atticus said.

They soon went to get to the boat docks.

A parade passed by as Arnold, Atticus, Cherry, and Gerald met up with the rest of the class.

"Hello! Welcome!" A man smiled to the group. "You must be Mr. Simmons and your P.S. 118 class. My name is Eduardo."

"Hi, Eduardo!" Everyone else greeted.

"Eduardo?" Arnold and Gerald asked.

"Arnold. Could it be?" The man gasped to the football-headed boy. "Arnold, it's me, your parents' best friend! ¡Qué buen fortuna! I am the captain of this boat, and I will take you up the river to the rainforest. We'll go straight to the habitat that my group, Helpers for Humanity, made." he then told the boy out of delight.

Patch and Cleo had a hidden bad feeling about the man. Abner began to feel the same way.

"Yes, like my parents!" Arnold smiled to Eduardo.

"Of course!" Eduardo smiled back. "We all worked together."

"Hi, I'm Gerald," Gerald said, shaking his hands with the man. "What a relief. We thought that something bad--"

"Captain Eddie, is there a toilet on this boat?!" Harold spoke up urgently.

"Of course, of course, me disculpe," Eduardo replied. "Where are my manners? Everyone, all aboard!"

'Why am I having a bad feeling about him?' Patch thought to himself.

Everyone soon came on board of the boat.

"We're on the boat, we're on schedule, the captain even knows Arnold," Mr. Simmons beamed to himself. "This'll be a perfect trip!"

"Make way!" Harold cried out as he ran over suddenly. "I'm coming through."

"I couldn't agree more, Mr. Simmons." Olga said to her sister's teacher.

"This trip sure is going to be interesting." Mo said.

"More interesting than you know." Cherry remarked.

"Come on, have some fun, Miss Stick-In-The-Mud." Atticus smirked, ruffling up her hair a bit.

"Cut that out!" Cherry called out.

"I want to introduce my crew," Eduardo told the others, showing other men on his boat. "This is Paulo, Steve, and Che."

'They seem interesting.' Cleo thought to herself.

Olga looked very interested in the last young man in Eduardo's crew before then fainted and fell in his arms.

"Everybody loves Olga." Helga deadpanned to herself.

The boat whistle soon blew and the boat, the Doña Marina, set sail.

"And off we go." Cherry said.

"Don't get sick." Atticus advised.

"I'll try not to, though this boat ride reminds me of going into Moonscar Island." Cherry replied.

"Yeah, same here." Atticus said.

"You ever think we might go back?" Cherry asked.

"Shh, don't jinx it~" Atticus shushed her ominously.

"I still can't believe I'm in San Lorenzo with you, Eduardo!" Arnold beamed to the Hispanic man.

"Is it fate?" Eduardo replied. "Who knows?"

"Eduardo, I have to know, where are my parents?" Arnold soon asked. "Are they alive?"

"Ah, qué lástima," Eduardo sighed a bit. "That's a mystery I have not yet solved either, amigo, but I bet you'd like to hear my stories of your parents."

"I know I would," Atticus said as he overheard that. He soon saw that Eduardo and Arnold had heard him. "Heh..." he then smiled sheepishly.

"Ha! Let's see!" Eduardo soon told Arnold. "Eh, your father was always bumping into things and breaking them. I think the first three times he met your mother, he broke something," he then laughed a bit. "His arm, his head... They were both my best friends," he then walked over to a small chest and put an amulet on around Arnold's neck. "Your father would want you to have this. It was a gift to him from the Green-Eyed People. You know, they helped each other many times." he then told the football-headed boy.

The amulet then glowed a bright green.

"¡Ay, qué... I've never seen this happen before!" Eduardo remarked from that. "You truly must be chosen, Arnold; chosen by the Green-Eyes! Surely you know that when you were born, that you silenced the erupting volcano, Volcán Turriable?"

"It was in my dad's journal!" Arnold smiled.

Atticus nodded in confirmation.

"The Green-Eyes saw that, too!" Eduardo beamed. "It fulfilled a prophecy!"

The amulet then stopped glowing.

"Maybe, when we are upriver, we, you and me, we will find the Green-Eyed People?" Eduardo offered to Arnold. "Maybe they will know the answer to the mystery of your parents."

"Hey, Arnold, it's buffet time." Gerald told his best friend.

"I, uh..." Arnold paused.

"Go on, play, Arnold, play," Eduardo told him. "Friends should be with friends."

"He's right, Arnold." Atticus smiled.

They soon went off together as Eduardo smiled. Cherry glanced at Eduardo as she pet Cleo in her arms.

"He's not a good person, right?" Cleo whispered to Cherry.

"I saw something very important in the Dream Realm." Cherry replied.

"Let's go bust him." Cleo said, about to jump out of her arms.

"Not yet!" Cherry told her kitten. "Eventually though. Let's see if we can find tuna for you at that buffet."

"Mm." Cleo smiled.

"I love buff-ets!" Harold beamed.

"Ooh, pitaya!" Eugene beamed as he licked a fruit only to swell up like a balloon. "Well, I guess I'll add 'pitaya' to my allergy list."

"I finished all the deli sandwiches, the Carne con Whiskers," Harold said before eating some fish only for his stomach to rumble which made him run off. "Ooh! Clear the bathroom! Emergency! Kill me now!"

Olga giggled as she supervised her younger sister's classmates.

'She sure is chipper.' Patch thought to himself.

"Man, Olga makes it look so easy," Helga sulked to herself. "What's her secret? Besides being pretty and charming and nice."

"I'm queen of the world!" Olga beamed, standing by the bow in delight of her shimmering beauty.

"Time to feed the fish!" Helga soon gagged, going to the bathroom, but Harold was in there right now.

"You might wanna wait." Cherry told Helga.

Helga groaned as she looked very sick to her stomach.

"You can try gagging over the edge." Cherry said.

Helga groaned as she went to do that.

"There ya go." Cherry smirked a bit.

Arnold soon looked around before seeing Eduardo up in the crow's nest and soon climbed up there. Atticus looked around through his own telescope.

"Hey, Eduardo!" Arnold called out to his parents' old friend. "What are you looking at?"

"Oh, nothing, Arnold. Nothing," Eduardo replied. "But this is the jungle, and you must always be aware of the dangers here."

"...Like La Sombra?" Arnold guessed.

Cherry suddenly shook a chill down her spine. That name caught Eduardo's attention.

"So, you've heard about the infamous La Sombra," Eduardo said to Arnold. "He was not happy that your parents stole back from him a precious treasure called the Corazón."

Cherry gulped as she listened in a bit.

"Is he after me?" Arnold asked. "We're in danger, aren't we?"

"We could turn around and head back to safety or we can continue ahead, and maybe, find out about your parents." Eduardo "What? But I promised--" Arnold replied before thinking about it for a moment. "No. With you to protect us, we keep going."

"Now, don't tell the others what we spoke about," Eduardo then told Arnold. "I don't want to worry anyone."

Cherry soon walked in. "Then how about some of us?" She then asked.

Arnold and Eduardo looked at her.

"Cherry, were you eavesdropping?" Arnold asked.

"No," Cherry replied innocently. "I was just concerned."

"You are a good friend, Miss?" Eduardo asked.

"I do what I can." Cherry replied.

"She and her friend Atticus really helped me out to save my home." Arnold told Eduardo.

"It's what we do," Cherry shrugged. "Help others and save the day."

"You have a good heart." Arnold smiled to her.

"Sure, I guess." Cherry said.


	5. Chapter 5

Later that night, everyone gathered around, though Arnold had a lot on his mind.

Gerald soon came over to Arnold. "Anything wrong, Arnold?" He asked his best friend.

"Uh, uh, nothing," Arnold told Gerald. "Everything's fine."

"Come on, man. There's no secrets with us, right?" Gerald told his best friend. "And now you've got a secret with this guy you just met?"

Arnold just gave Gerald a look.

"Fine." Gerald then said as he went to leave.

Cherry winced as that had to hurt.

"Arnold, he should know." Cherry told Arnold once Gerald left.

"I promised I wouldn't say anything though." Arnold replied.

"Yeah, but didn't you also promise your grandfather you wouldn't try to look for your parents?" Cherry retorted.

"Well, yeah, but..." Arnold frowned.

"I think you should at least tell Gerald," Cherry said to him softly. "He's your best friend. I tell Atticus everything."

"Did you tell him about what we were talking about?" Arnold asked.

"Well, not yet, but I might later on," Cherry replied until she soon saw Arnold walking off. "Maybe he'll listen to me... Maybe..." she then said to herself.

Helga sighed dreamily as she looked at her locket as Arnold walked off.

"Why did the bad guy's name also have to be Sombra...?" Cherry groaned to herself as that name made her think of Atticus's evil uncle. "Seriously, his name could have been anything else, but sure, give him the same name that I fear."

"Hi, Cherry!" Atticus smiled.

"GAH!" Cherry gasped before punching his face from the scare.

"You okay?" Atticus asked as that didn't hurt him. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Sorry... Just thinking." Cherry replied.

"Thinking? About what?" Atticus asked as Helga followed Arnold up to the crow's nest.

"Uh, well..." Cherry said. "Arnold and I were just talking..."

"Yes...?" Atticus pried then.

"Well, there's something about treasure..." Cherry smiled sheepishly.

"Cherry, come on, you can tell me anything." Atticus said.

"Well... Like I said... There's a treasure called the Corazón," Cherry replied. "Also, Eduardo said he might have a way to find Arnold's parents, so... We're going into the jungle."

"But didn't Arnold promise his grandfather that he wouldn't--" Atticus started.

"I know," Cherry replied. "Arnold's going through a lot right now too. I guess that explains why you have that jungle supply kit that you got in the mail."

"Hmm..." Atticus paused.

"It couldn't hurt anyone, right?" Cherry grinned sheepishly.

"Right." Atticus nodded.

Meanwhile with Arnold...

"Arnold, what a surprise!" Helga said to the football-headed boy as he was on his way back to the crow's nest as Cleo scratched at the pole in the background. "I came up here to think... About life and stuff."

"Yeah. Me, too." Arnold replied.

"So, up here, staring into the night, trying to figure out how to tell me something, huh?" Helga smiled.

Arnold sighed a bit. "Well, actually, I do have something to confess." he then said to her.

"Confess? Like a confession?" Helga smiled. "Like a deep sea secret you haven't told me?"

Cleo tilted her head curiously as she listened in a bit.

"Yeah. You ever feel like... There's a hole in your heart?" Arnold asked Helga.

"Y-Yes!" Helga nodded rapidly. "All the time."

"This whole trip's been about one thing," Arnold said. "I wanna find my lost parents. I feel like I'm about to put us all in--"

"Yeah, yeah, I know all about your parents," Helga interrupted crudely. "How do you feel about me?"

Cleo simply face-pawed as that was crude.

"Huh?" Arnold asked Helga.

"You wouldn't even be here without me!" Helga told him. "Oh, Arnold, I may act like I don't care! I may even say I hate you, but that's a cover! I actually do care about you."

"Huh?" Arnold asked, still confused.

"Oh, don't play dumb, Arnold!" Helga told him. "You know what I'm talking about! You're like some weird old wise man, for crying out loud! I know you can handle the truth, and I can, too!"

'She is seriously pushing it.' Cleo thought to herself.

"I'm talking about the fact that I really like you, Arnold," Helga told the boy. "Like thunder likes lightning, like faces like fists! You know, like-like! In fact, I lo--"

A light shined on them which made Arnold gasp and go to leave. "There's a boat coming!" he then said.

'Arnold!' Cleo thought to herself as she glared as that was the worst timing.

Helga seemed to feel the same way as she let out a furious scream in frustration. She then took the picture of Arnold out of her locket, and angrily ripped it into pieces, and threw the empty locket into the river. Cleo pouted as she felt a little sad for Helga as she thought about her own crush who seemed to reject her a lot.

"There was a dead mouse in the yard," Cleo smiled, giving a gift to her older crush who was of course not interested since she was a kitten. "It's a gift just for you!"

"Uh... How flattering, kid..." Salem said as he picked up the mouse by its tail, though he didn't sound too happy.

"I hope you like it." Cleo smiled.

"Uh... Sure..." Salem said as he walked off.

Cleo beamed before she saw Salem getting rid of it which made her pout and ears droop.

Cleo then rubbed her eyes in present day as she then went back to wandering on deck as Helga was going through heartbreak of her own. Unknown to her, a certain stalker dove in to get Helga's heart-shaped locket.

"Eduardo!" Arnold called out for his parents' friend.

Abner soon sniffed Eduardo, snorting, squealed, and then running away. He tried to warn Arnold, but was ignored and jumped off the boat.

"I wonder where Abner is going?" Patch pondered to Cleo.

"Maybe you'd like to go with him." Cleo smirked.

"No, I'm sure he's going for help." Patch said.

Cleo merely shrugged from that.

"Eduardo!" Arnold panted to the man he trusted. "There's a ship!"

As lights shone on the two, the ship grappled onto the Doña Marina, and Steve and Paolo came out to attempt to fight them off.

"Arnold! It's La Sombra!" Eduard told the boy.

"I knew it!" Arnold replied. "What are we gonna do?!"

"We'll fight back and get away!" Eduardo told him. "Stay down where they cannot see you!"

Patch had another strange feeling. 

"But what about my friends?" Arnold asked.

"Forget them!!" Eduardo told him.

"Get to the sleeping quarters." Atticus told Mo.

"Why?" Mo asked. "What's going on?"

"We're being attacked!" Atticus said.

"An attack?" Mo frowned in concern.

"It must be pirates." Atticus nodded.

"Then I'm going to help fight them." Mo said.

"Mo, are you sure?" Atticus asked.

"I can kick butt!" Mo glared bravely, playfully pushing him.

"Oh! Um, alright then." Atticus grinned sheepishly.

"Besides, I've lived on the streets before we met," Mo reminded him. "I know how to fight."

"Right," Atticus replied. "Get the others out of here, and I'll meet you back up here."

"Hmm... Okay," Mo then said and soon went off. "I'll be right back!"

"I can't believe I told her to go to the sleeping quarters with the kids," Atticus face-palmed himself. "That was so stupid."

"Were you worried about the baby?" Patch asked.

"Yeah... That must've been it," Atticus replied. "I just feel a little extra worried about Mo lately."

"It's probably because you wanna protect her to protect the baby." Patch suggested.

"Yeah, that makes sense." Atticus then said.

"But Mo's a strong fighter, so don't worry," Patch smiled. "She and the baby will be fine."

Atticus smiled back. "Oh, I'm just hoping I can be a good father." he then sighed.

"I'm sure every parent feels that way," Patch comforted. "Collette and I have experience though with younger ones since we look after the Buddies all the time."

"True." Atticus smiled.

"No worries," Patch smiled back. "You should be a great father someday. Now, allow me to help out against these pirates too."

"Hmm... Alright," Atticus said. "Let's get some swords."

Drell soon secretly used his magic to send over Atticus's sword in the boy's backpack as he was then going to leave.

"These pirates are not going to know what hit them." Patch smiled.

"I'm Captain Jack Sparrow!" Atticus called out, then took out his sword from the bag. "Hm... I didn't think I actually packed this. Oh, well, I guess I'm always prepared."

"Go for it, Atticus!" Patch beamed.

Atticus nodded and soon yelled out as he came toward the pirates as Mo was coming back after sending Mr. Simmons and the class into the sleeping quarters.

"Oh, dear, a pirate attack?" Mr. Simmons cried out in concern. "Not on the agenda!"

"Not everything's going to be on the agenda." Cherry told him before joining the fight against the pirates.

"Oh, are you sure you should go out there?" Olga asked, grabbing her arm.

"Yeah, I'll be fine!" Cherry replied. "I do this sorta thing all the time!"

"All the time?" Olga asked out of concern.

"Let me go!" Cherry cried out, then made Olga go before running off.

"Heavens..." Olga whispered in concern. "Fight hard, Che!" she then fan girl squealed for one of Eduardo's men she seemed to really like. "But don't hurt your runway-quality chiseled face!"

Atticus soon used magic to give Cherry and Mo their own swords.

"Guess it'll be like that time with Fred Jones' parents and those pirates that attacked," Cherry said to herself. "Not to mention that time with Peter Pan."

"Here we go." Mo said.

The new ship soon came.

"I wanna meet this La Sombra guy," Atticus narrowed his eyes. "Where you hiding, coward?"

"It might be too dangerous if you do." Eduardo warned.

"Trust me; me, Cherry, Mo, and Patch have faced worse." Atticus told him.

Eduardo looked a bit unsure.

"You worry about the ship, we'll handle the pirates." Cherry replied.

"Well, alright." Eduardo then said as he went off.

"These pirates are going to be sent flying back to their ship." Patch smirked.

The attackers growled and went after the group who were young adults by now.

Patch went to go see Cleo to make sure that she was alright and safe. Cleo shivered a bit as she hid behind a barrel.

"I gotta get you out of here." Patch said in concern as Cleo was only a kitten and looked scared from the pirate attack.

"Yes, please." Cleo begged.

Patch looked around, then took a hold of Cleo by her scruff and carried her over the deck to find a safe place to keep her while Atticus, Cherry, and Mo fought the pirates.

"W-Where are you taking me?" Cleo asked.

"Somewhere safe," Patch muffled. "Maybe to the sleeping quarters."

"Hold on tight, amigo," Eduardo said, going to the captain's cabin to grab the helm. "Yes, my friend. I'm changing course down the Río de Oscuridad! It has tricky and dangerous rapids! He wouldn't dare to follow!" he then sped up the boat, making all the students fall onto the deck, screaming. He turned the ship wheel to change course, making the attackers, along with Atticus, Cherry, Mo, Steve and Paulo, fall overboard.

"Ugh! Who booked this?!" Rhonda groaned.

"Oh, brother." Patch muffled as he heard that.

"Bueno," Eduardo soon said. "La Sombra may be a ruthless river pirate, but he's not crazy; no, far from it."

The boat then started its treacherous path through the Rio de Oscuridad. Atticus, Cherry, and Mo came out from the water, coughing a bit as they didn't change into mer-folk.

"Everyone okay?" Atticus asked.

"I think so," Mo replied. "We gotta get back to the boat though."

"Agreed." Atticus nodded before he used his control of the water to help them to the boat.

They soon came on and stood up with smiles before yelping a bit as the boat went really fast down the rapids.

"Whoop! There we go! Whoop! Down again!" Curly laughed like a psycho. "Oh, this is so fun!"

Helga soon screamed out.

"Hold on, Helga!" Phoebe told her best friend.

"This is probably bad!" Patch yelped as he and Cleo were on the dock.

"I'm feeling queasy!" Cleo groaned. "Not sure if it's a furball or seasickness!"

"Can this get any worse?!" Harold cried out in the bathroom.

Eduardo soon found an incoming drop and called out. "Hold on tight!" 

The boat soon went down a fall and smashed into some rocks as Eugene flew out of the boat.

"I'm okay!" Eugene called out.

Eduardo soon came to the others in a panic. "Everyone, abandon ship!"

"Oh, come on!" Cherry complained. "We just got back to the ship!"

"Abandon ship!" Eduardo told her.

"Aaugh!" Cherry groaned.

Everyone soon went to get out of the boat as it was too dangerous to stay inside of as night fell over them.

"Great." Cherry groaned.

"Sorry about that, Cherry," Atticus replied. "Guess it's too dangerous to stay in the boat."

"I guess so," Cherry said before looking over to her frightened kitten. "Cleo! Jump! I'll catch you, but no claws!"

Cleo was about to jump, but looked too scared to jump, backing up from the splashing water and mewed sadly.

"Don't worry, we promise you that you won't get wet!" Mo told her.

Cleo backed up, crouching a bit as she still felt scared.

"Just jump, Cleo," Cherry gently told her kitten. "Please... I won't let anything bad ever happen to you. You just have to trust me."

Cleo soon looked over and gulped as she soon came running, then jumped high in the air, retracting her claws.

"I gotcha, girl, I gotcha!" Cherry said before she soon caught her kitten in her arms.

"Whew." Cleo sighed.

"It's okay, Cleo, it's okay," Cherry comforted her kitten. "We'll get out of here."

"I don't like the water, Cherry," Cleo sniffled, nuzzling up against her. "I want to go home now."

"I'm sorry, girl," Cherry told her. "We'll get out of the water soon, I'm sure."

"Great." Cleo said.

Eventually, they found land and the next morning, they were all shipwrecked.

"Abner? Abner?" Arnold soon called out for his pet pig. "Here, boy! Where are you?"

"So, who's starving?" Gerald asked the others.

"Oh, I have snacks in my other luggage," Rhonda smiled. "I'll just go back and get them."

The ship then suddenly exploded.

"Or not..." Rhonda then said weakly.

"Wow," Mo said. "That just happened."

"Now, friends, let me explain what has just happened back there." Eduardo soon said.

"A thrilling, classic chase scene!" Curly gushed. "And now we're shipwrecked and lost!"

"Untrue," Eduardo declined. "We have escaped an unexpected attack, and, yes, our boat is unfortunately wrecked, but there is good news," he then explained. "We are not lost. We can hike from here to our jungle habitat, a safe place."

"That's reassuring." Mo said.

"It's a pretty long hike, isn't it?" Cherry guessed.

"It's many, many, many miles over rough trails." Eduardo replied.

"Oh, that is such bad news."" Rhonda said.

"Might as well get started." Cherry shrugged, trying not to complain so much anymore.

"Through steep, muddy jungle..." Eduardo continued.

"Ugh, just got worse." Rhonda groaned from that.

"But then it smooths out..." Eduardo began as the students looked hopeful, but soon grew disappointed. "And becomes an enormous swamp."

"Great." Cherry groaned.

"Okay, I demand an explanation, Mister!" Helga spoke up. "What really happened back there? Who attacked us, and why?"

"We were attacked by river pirates," Eduardo replied. "Their leader is called La Sombra. He is... After Arnold."

'That was odd; why didn't he lie and just say that he didn't know why?' Patch thought to himself.

The students looked a bit nervous at the mention of La Sombra.

"Why is this La Sombra after Arnold?" Sid soon asked.

"That is Arnold's business," Eduardo replied. "Let's get going. Vámonos."

"We didn't sign up for this, Arnold, but you knew that already," Helga soon glared at the football-headed boy in blame. "Now we're literally up the river without a stinkin' paddle!"

"No, no fighting, no fighting!" Eduardo told the kids. "We have one big job to do now, friends: to walk. We can do this. And take only what you need."

'Well, this is going to be an interesting, long walk.' Mo thought to herself.

Curly took off his shoes and the rest of his clothes as the students march onward.

"I'll pretend I didn't see that." Cherry mumbled.

Eduardo, Arnold and the rest of the group continued onward. Helga pushed Arnold into the mud, blowing a raspberry at him as Eduardo helped him up. Next, everyone was traversing the swamp, while bugs surrounded Rhonda.

"Oh, gross!" Rhonda groaned. "Get it off! Oh, I think it bit me! Aah!"

"Ooh! It's like Christmas!" Nadine smiled.

"You like bugs, huh?" Mo asked.

"Oh, yes." Nadine smiled.

"Interesting." Cherry said.

"Wanna see my collection?" Nadine asked.

"Uh, no thanks," Cherry replied. "I have a new respect for bugs, but I don't know if I wanna see any right now."

"You remember the bug's life, huh?" Atticus asked.

"How could I forget?" Cherry replied nervously. "Hopper was kinda scary for a grasshopper."

"Yeah, and that feral one who barely talked." Atticus said.

"So I don't need another bug's life," Cherry grinned nervously. "No ants and grasshoppers, please or that story The Ant Bully."

"What about that one movie they showed us in school for Biology?" Atticus smirked.

"You mean 'Antz'?" Cherry replied. "Heh. That would be something. Probably more dramatic and serious than with Flik and Princess Atta though."

"I think you're right." Atticus nodded.

The group was then at a rainy part of the jungle, stepping on stones. Atticus helped Cherry out the best that he could since she was a bit clumsy at times. Arnold offered Gerald some help, but he refused. At a steep hill, everyone was tired, except Stinky who had found himself a parrot, and Curly who was happily marching forward. While Sid helped Mr. Simmons roll Eugene up, his boots ripped apart.

"My Beatle boots!" Sid sobbed from that.

"Maybe we should fix those." Cherry commented to Atticus.

"Possibly." Atticus said.

Cherry then winked to him.

"With magic? Hmm... Oh, all right..." Atticus replied. "I guess it couldn't hurt."

Sid continued to cry for his boots until Cherry and Atticus secretly used magic to fix up his boots, and where that did the trick as the boots were good as new.

"You've been so generous and empathetic lately." Atticus smiled proudly to Cherry.

"Must be my Element of Harmony acting up." Cherry shrugged bashfully.

"Maybe." Atticus said.

They soon kept going for a while. Cherry eventually was piggybacked by Atticus since she couldn't walk for a while longer.

Phoebe soon gasped in realization. "I see the habitat!"

"We're safe!" Mr. Simmons beamed. "Thank you, Eduardo!"

"¡Vámonos, mijos!" Eduardo smiled to the others. "You can rest and dry out and have a hot dinner!"

"That's good." Mo sighed.

"We're back on schedule!" Mr. Simmons beamed.

"Yeah. I guess it all worked out!" Arnold smiled.

"Then why do I still have a bad feeling?" Cleo whispered.

"I'm feeling it too." Patch whispered back.

"Are you guys okay?" Cherry asked as Atticus set her down on the ground since they could relax now.

"We're still having a bad feeling." Patch said.

"Was it something you ate?" Cherry asked. "Like an evil bunny?"

"You dreamdropped on me!" Patch gasped.

Cherry chuckled a bit.

"Grr..." Patch glared at her for laughing. "Anyway, no. It's about Eduardo."

"Yeah." Cleo nodded.

"He's been helpful though." Cherry replied.

"Um, eh... May I have your attention?" Eduardo spoke up. "There's been a misunderstanding, which I would like to correct."

"This isn't the habitat?" Atticus asked.

"Actually, I am not 'Eduardo'," The man replied, taking off his mustache, revealing it to be fake before he grinned evilly. "I am La Sombra! And you are now my prisoners!"

Patch and Cleo began to growl and hiss at La Sombra. The gate closed shut as Che dragged Arnold to the front.

"I knew it!" Cherry glared.

"And you will remain my prisoners until this football-headed boy shows me where to find the Corazón." La Sombra told the group.

"And you actually think he knows where it is?" Mo asked.

"Oh, he'll tell me, especially since we're partners." La Sombra smirked.

"Oh, right." Cherry groaned as she face-palmed.

"Yes, our little secret." La Sombra continued.

"Partner?" Phoebe asked.

"...What secret is he talking about?" Helga asked.

"No! I mean, he--" Arnold frowned.

"Oh, Arnold didn't tell you?" La Sombra smirked. "We planned to go look for his precious Green-Eyed People."

'Wow, he sure knows how to twist the truth,' Cherry thought to herself. 'Even though Arnold was originally going to be trying to find his parents.'

"Green-Eyed People?" The students soon asked.

"No! No! He's twisting it all up," Arnold told his classmates, saying what Cherry was thinking. "I thought maybe if we found the Green-Eyes, they could tell me where my parents are."

"Arnold, say it ain't so!" Sid cried out. "You weren't actually helping this jamoke?"

"I knew it!" Gerald glared at his best friend. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"I'm sorry, Gerald, I--" Arnold frowned.

"You've gone Benedict, Arnold!" Mr. Simmons scolded before lecturing. "Benedict Arnold was a general who defected to the other si--"

"Uh, dude? I know you're a teacher, but can you not?" Cherry interrupted. "Because now is not a good time for a lecture."

"Sheesh! So what's so great about this mega-doofus, anyway?" Helga son asked.

"The ancient Green-Eyes foretold that a child of the volcano will save them and they believe Arnold to be that child," La Sombra informed. "For years, I've sought after the mysterious Green-Eyes to get my hands on their even more mysterious Corazón."

Phoebe looked into a Spanish dictionary. "'Corazón. Translation: heart'." she then defined for the others.

"Who are you, WordGirl?" Cherry deadpanned.

"With him by my side, the Green-Eyes are sure to show themselves to me," La Sombra continued before gesturing for his burly guard who then flipped a switch to show them a map. "As you see, I've made a career of stealing and selling all that is precious in Central America, but one treasure still eludes me: the Corazón."

'His greed will be his undoing.' Patch thought to himself.

"Psst! Do you need an inside man?" Curly smirked hopefully to La Sombra. "I can be the camp snitch. Wink."

"Sorry, kid," La Sombra told him. "You are too loco even for us villains."

"Great job, bringing us all here for your bogus contest, and instead, you sap, we're all prisoners of some stinkin' psycho river pirate!" Helga complained to Arnold.

"Listen, Helga, I-I didn't wanna hurt--" Arnold frowned.

"Ah, save the speech, you'll be fine," La Sombra interrupted. "As for all of you, lock them up!"

'I seriously hate this man.' Cleo thought to herself with a glare.

"You heard the boss. Move it!" Che told the men.

"I can't believe you did this, Che!" Olga cried to him.

The guards soon went to move Arnold's class.

"Except for maybe them..." La Sombra smirked to Atticus, Cherry, and Mo. "They seem interesting..."

"Of course we do." Atticus groaned.

"Milk my life." Cherry groaned as they were taken to their own cell.


	6. Chapter 6

"I'm really disappointed in Arnold." Eugene said as he and the rest of the class was locked up along with Patch and Cleo.

"Next chance I get, I'm knockin' that dingus Arnold into next week!" Helga threatened.

"Wait, one of us is missing." Patch said.

"Did you just...?" Helga glanced at him.

"Yes, I can talk now," Patch told her. "Anyways, La Sombra didn't just lie to all of us, but also to Arnold; after all, Eduardo, the real Eduardo, was friends with his parents. And with Eduardo's help, he would have been reunited with his parents."

Helga began to feel guilty and sad for Arnold.

"I know things look bad, but you should keep that in mind since you're all mad at Arnold now," Patch then said. "Also one of us really is missing; I believe he kinda creeps up on Helga from behind."

"Brainy..." Helga then rolled her eyes.

"Well, I am a smart dog, but you don't have to scoff about it." Patch said.

"No, that's his name," Helga explained. "Brainy. He always does that to me."

"Oh. Well, he's missing." Patch said.

"Good riddance." Helga replied.

"Aw, Helga, don't think like that," Patch said to her. "Besides, there must be a reason why he's missing."

Helga rolled her eyes before she soon heard Arnold's voice.

Atticus, Mo, and Cherry frowned for Arnold as he looked miserable.

"Mom, Dad, all these years I hoped that we'd find each other and be a family again," Arnold said as he began to cry which was truly heartbreaking to see. "But... I guess I'm never going to find you. I'll never know what happened to you. Goodbye, Mom. Goodbye, Dad. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Patch soon looked at Helga to see how she would react after hearing Arnold.

"Oh, Arnold. You poor, tortured creature," Helga sulked from Arnold's sadness. "Having known the depths of your despair, I wouldn't have left your side in your time of loneliness! If ever you needed my love, it's now, and you have it, forever and always. I must do anything, make any sacrifice, to help you find your parents! Oh, Arnold, you magnificent specimen! I'm coming for you!" sh e then reached inside her shirt for her locket before remembering what she did with it. 

"Wow... That was beautiful..." Patch said before looking over. "I think you also have some company." 

Brainy was heard breathing in and out from behind Helga. Helga flinched from that.

"Uh... Helga?" Brainy spoke up to her, holding Helga's locket with the picture of Arnold restored.

"Brainy? Ohhh! I could hit you!" Helga beamed before kissing him as she felt instantly happy. "Mwah!"

Brainy just stood, confused, but then got out a pan flute and danced around merrily. Patch and Cleo laughed and sighed happily from that. 

"That sure made his day." Cleo smiled.

"You gonna be okay?" Patch asked.

"I miss Cherry." Cleo pouted. 

"Yeah, I miss Atticus too, but don't worry, we'll get out somehow." Patch comforted. 

"How?" Cleo asked.

"Someway." Patch replied.

Cleo pouted as she just hoped he was right. 

"So, do you know who your father was?" Patch asked.

"No, I don't have a father," Cleo shrugged. "As far as I know, I just have a mama back in Gotham City and Cherry as my family." 

"Well, maybe the Pound Furries will know." Patch said.

"What is a Pound Furry?" Cleo asked.

"They used to be called The Kennel Kittens as rivals for the Pound Puppies, but they're friends of mine," Patch replied. "If you want, you can come with me and maybe we can find out who your father is."

"Hmm... I guess," Cleo shrugged. "I'm fine either way, but I guess I could find out about my father if I even have one." 

"Of course you do." Patch said.

"Phoebe, Gerald!" Helga soon called out. 

"What's up, Helga?" Gerald asked the blonde girl.

"Look, Arnold may be a total sap who traded all of our lives for a bag of metaphorical magic beans, but he needs our help," Helga said. "We gotta do something!"

"Ugh. That kid's gonna be doin' my chores for weeks to make up for this, but I'm in," Gerald groaned as he was still mad at his best friend. "What's the plan?"

"Phoebe?" Helga asked her best friend.

"Hmm... We can't all escape at the same time," Phoebe pondered. "They'll certainly notice our absence and capture us again." 

Patch nodded in agreement.

It took a while to come up with a plan. Eventually, the three came up with something that would have to do as it turned to even later that night.

"Okay," Gerald soon said. "So, Helga, Atticus's dog and Cherry's cat, you and I bust Arnold, Atticus, Cherry, and Mo out so we can find these 'Green-Eyed People', and, Phoebe--"

"I'll take care of everything here." Phoebe told him. 

Cleo nodded, liking this plan so far.

Harold began to cry. "I miss Arnold!"

Helga and Gerald nodded at Phoebe who then nodded at Curly.

"Yah!" Curly laughed as he soon began to ride Olga like a horse. "Hi-ho, Silver!"

"Oh, no! Curly has gone completely crazy!" Olga cried out. "Get him off of me! Help!"

"See you on the other side," Phoebe told Gerald, kissing his cheek with a small smirk. "Handsome."

'That already gives a hint that she likes him.' Patch thought to himself.

Gerald seemed to blush a bit before getting on top of the inflated Eugene with Helga. Patch and Cleo then rolled the swollen up boy against the wall like a bowling ball to break down the well, separating them from Atticus, Arnold, Cherry, and Mo.

"It worked." Cleo whispered.

"What's go--" Arnold was about to ask as that woke him up.

"Shh." Helga shushed as she covered his mouth.

"What are you guys doing here?" Arnold asked quietly.

"We're your rescue committee." Gerald replied quietly.

"Great." Cherry whispered.

"I thought you guys hated me." Arnold spoke up.

Helga scoffed from that. "Well, of course, everyone hates you, bucko, but we've gotta bust you out of here and find those 'Green-Eyes' if we wanna save ourselves."

"But what can we do?" Arnold frowned. "La Sombra won."

"Don't you give up now!" Helga told him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Your blind optimism is one of your most annoying qualities," she then removed her hand. "Besides, after the Green-Eyes help us, they might have some information on your parents."

"She's got you there." Patch said.

"Come on!" Arnold soon said as he felt motivated again.

Atticus and Mo smiled while Cherry gave a stoic thumb's up.

'That's as much positivity we'll get from her.' Cleo thought to herself.

"You okay, Cleo?" Cherry asked, picking up her kitten.

"I missed you." Cleo purred, nuzzling up against Cherry.

"I missed you too." Cherry said as she pet Cleo.

A guard was shown to be sleeping with a key on him.

"Typical." Atticus commented from that.

"Grandpa said this would come in handy." Arnold said as he brought out the stapler.

"Let's see if it does." Cherry said.

Arnold successfully snatched the keys from the guard's hand and replaced it with the stapler. He then unlocked the door with ease. Suddenly, the guard woke up.

"Oh, what?" The guard mumbled before seeing what was going on. "What are you--? Why are you--?"

Helga then knocked the guard out with the stapler before smirking. "Grandpa was right, Football Head."

Cherry sweat-dropped sheepishly. "I'll never question the elderly again." she then said with a sheepish grin.

"Alright, now what?" Mo asked.

"We should check out for more guards just in case." Arnold suggested.

"Agreed." Atticus said as he cracked his knuckles.

Arnold, Gerald, Atticus, Mo, Patch, Cleo, Cherry, and Helga scale the wall to make sure there were no guards. Helga gave the "all-clear" signal and they run for it.

"So far so good." Cherry smirked a bit.

"Yep." Mo nodded.

A guard was soon shown, narrowing his eyes around.

"Here we go... But he doesn't see us..." Cherry whispered.

"And for us, that's a good thing." Patch whispered back.

Cherry walked along first, stepping on a random twig which snapped. The guard soon turned around with a growl.

"Oh, do you wanna go?" Atticus smirked. "Let's go!"

"You can take him, Atticus." Patch smiled.

The guard soon ran toward Atticus.

"Very well..." Atticus smirked before running toward the guard and pinning him onto the ground. "You wanna do this the easy way or the hard way? I've been to WrestleMania."

"This is a guard, what do you think?" Cherry asked.

"Okay, hard way it is!" Atticus smirked.

The guard and Atticus soon began to fight each other, though of course, Atticus despite being much younger, proved to be a challenge.

"Atticus!" Mo cried out as the others went to leave.

"I'll meet you on the way out!" Atticus replied.

"Trust me; Atticus is strong enough to take on anyone." Cherry assured her adoptive cousin.

"I know, but I feel scared for him." Mo replied.

"Augh! Come on!" Cherry said, pushing her away as Atticus took down the guard.

Atticus soon threw the guard against a rope, tripping him which soon opened a gate which allowed the others to go out and escape from.

"Are you a wrestler?" The guard asked Atticus with a groan. "Your strength sure shows it."

"Like I said, I've been to WrestleMania," Atticus replied. "You guys ready to go?"

Mo soon ran up to Atticus and hugged him tearfully as her emotions seemed to be acting up.

"Her mood swings." Cherry guessed.

"It's okay, Mo," Atticus said. "Nothing bad will ever happen to me."

"I just felt so scared and worried, I just didn't know what to think." Mo cried to him as she hugged him, going into a crying mess.

"It's alright; I'm okay, besides it'll take more than a guard to take me out." Atticus smiled.

Mo sniffled as she hugged him.

"What is her problem?" Helga rolled her eyes.

"She's showing her true emotions to the one she loves," Cherry replied. "You might wanna try it sometime."

"Also she's pregnant." Patch said.

"...What?" Helga asked. "Aren't you guys a bit young to get married?"

"We're not married yet, but that'll change soon," Atticus replied proudly. "I'm gonna be a father."

"Shouldn't we be going?" Cleo asked.

"Hmm... Where to?" Atticus soon pondered.

"Don't worry. I've got a map, and according to my dad's journal, the Green-Eyes live somewhere around here," Arnold said, bringing out the map which had a marked place called "Unknown".

"Cute. He's got a map." Helga commented.

"So all we do is follow the map." Mo said.

"Should be simple." Atticus smiled.

Patch smiled back with a nod. They soon ran off together from their prison without La Sombra knowing, but that wouldn't last very long.

"Here we go." Cleo said.

Little did they know, the adults back home were about to find out what was going on during the class trip, thanks to Phoebe's genius and Rhonda's phone which had no bars for WiFi signal. For a while, the group was traveling throughout the jungle as they followed Arnold's map.

"These Green-Eyed people sure hid themselves really well." Cleo said.

"They're very elusive from what we've heard," Cherry replied. "Very secretive and very sneaky, though they should trust Arnold since they knew his parents."

"You like talking to animals, Arnold?" Patch smiled.

"Yeah, it's pretty fun talking to Abner," Arnold smiled back. "Thanks so much for that."

"No prob." Patch smiled back.

They soon stopped as they approached a waterfall. Cleo backed up a bit since she was deathly afraid of water.

"So how do we get past this waterfall?" Gerald soon asked.

"Okay, my guess is that we're--" Arnold said, surveying the map before his shirt suddenly glowed. "I don't know."

"Uh, Arnold, why is your shirt glowing?" Mo asked.

"What?" Arnold asked before he then took out the amulet as it glowed. "Because it's next to the map?"

"Use it on the map." Atticus suggested.

Arnold then used the amulet to reveal hidden markings on the map. "Look! It's a key!" he then realized. "There's a hidden path behind the waterfall!"

The group then walked the path behind the waterfall and came to a wall covered in vines.

"Are you sure you're even reading that map right?" Helga asked Arnold.

"I'm positive." Arnold replied.

"Oh, sure," Helga scoffed, taking his amulet. "So there should be some sort of giant eyeball here? You got us lost, Football Head!"

"We don't know that." Mo said.

"Did I hear someone mention a giant eyeball?" Gerald asked after he had removed some vines.

"Arnold, fork over the map," Helga demanded before looking at the map to saw two red markings on the giant eyeballs. "Oh, for crying out loud!" she then pushed the buttons as directed on the map to open the doors.

"Not bad." Cherry remarked.

"Good thinking, Helga!" Arnold added. "You're brilliant!"

"Oh!~" Helga smiled lovingly before going back to normal in a huff. "Well, at least one of us can read!"

'She sure has a way to show her feelings.' Cherry thought to herself.

"I'm sure whatever you're thinking, you wouldn't do anything different." Atticus commented.

"Hilarious." Cherry replied.

The door then shut behind them, startling them a bit.

"That was startling." Mo said.

"Okay... A jungle temple..." Atticus said. "Knowing this place, there's gonna be booby traps."

"Yeah, so keep a look out." Cherry added. She then stepped on a stone tile on a stone tile which sunk.

"Booby trap!" Arnold gasped as he jumped and pushed Helga, avoiding an arrow heading right for her.

"Did I say it was okay to touch me?!" Helga complained.

"Oh, boy." Gerald groaned from that.

"Did you want an arrow to be shot in you?!" Patch glared at Helga.

"He still shouldn't have touched me!" Helga replied.

"Okay, you heard her," Cherry smirked to Atticus. "Rewind a few seconds and let her suffer from not being touched."

"Nope." Atticus shook his head.

"Just this once?" Cherry asked.

"You're sick!" Atticus replied.

Later, Arnold looked at the map through the amulet again. "Oh, my gosh! This shows us which tiles to avoid." he then said.

"Convenient." Cherry commented.

"Forward, forward, forward, left, forward--" Arnold then began as the others soon followed after him for guidance.

"What's next after forward?" Patch asked.

"Forward, left, forward, right..." The group soon began together.

"Maybe we're supposed to--Oof!" Arnold said only to get bumped into by Helga and Gerald, setting off another b*** trap which they narrowly avoided.

Helga then whacked the journal in Arnold's face.

"I seriously am hating booby traps!" Cleo complained.

Later, the group traveled on before Arnold stopped the others.

"Hold it! It says there's some kind of false floor here," Arnold told the others. "Follow my lead." he then swung onto the rope and landed on the other side.

Cherry backed up, a bit unsure about using a rope to get across.

"We don't have any other choice." Cleo told her.

"Alright, come here," Cherry said. "At least you can hide in my bag."

Cleo then climbed up into Cherry's backpack and hid away. Cherry sighed, taking a deep breath as she grabbed onto the rope and swung herself over next. Luckily enough, the rope was strong enough. 

"Good work, Cherry!" Atticus said.

Cherry breathed out calmly. "I guess that could've gone worse." She soon let go of the rope once she made it to the other side.

Everyone else soon began to join in. Gerald almost fell when he came by, but luckily, Arnold helped his best friend from falling.

The group soon ended up to a tunnel.

"It looks like we have to hug the wall." Arnold cautioned.

The group then narrowly walked along against the wall and out of the tunnel.

"This way!" Arnold then said.

"Lead the way!" Atticus replied.

They continued to follow after Arnold as it took quite a while. Cherry seemed a lot less out of breath than she usually got since she got more exercise since Atticus, well, more or less, made her get more exercise so she wouldn't flunk out of Gym Class in school.

The group then approached a stone shrine covered with leaves when Arnold's amulet stopped glowing.

"Hmm... The amulet stopped glowing," Arnold told the others. "There's no more information on the map."

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Helga complained.

"Well, if you don't mind, I could use a break," Gerald spoke up tiredly. "My dogs are barking."

"We should take a break." Patch said.

"Are you barking?" Cleo asked.

"Gerald just means we've been walking for a while and should sit down." Patch explained.

"Ohh... Humans..." Cleo replied, trying to get used to metaphors.

"Taking a break does sound good." Mo said.

"We'll have to find the Green-Eyes on our own from here." Arnold suggested.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Helga complained to him. "This is the middle of nowhere, Football Head!"

Gerald took off his shoes and went to soak his feet, but seemed to get sucked in. "Whoa!"

"Gerald! Are you okay?" Arnold gasped.

"Gerald? Whoa!" Helga asked only to fall into the well with Arnold and Gerald.

"Well, there it is then." Cherry shrugged.

"In we go." Mo said.

Cherry pinched her nose and soon went to fall along with Atticus, Mo, Cleo, and Patch.


	7. Chapter 7

They ended up in a pit of leaves as Helga held onto Gerald's shoe.

"Mm-mm-mm," Gerald hummed as he saw a statue which looked familiar. "Arnold, this statue sure looks a lot like you."

"Hmm... I gotta say, it's not half-bad," Helga commented as she gave Gerald his shoe back. "I've seen better."

"Since when?" Cleo asked.

"Mind your own business, Cat." Helga scoffed to her.

Cleo stuck her tongue out in response. Suddenly, a group of villagers surrounded them with weapons, though they seemed to be children.

"This is interesting." Atticus said.

"It's the village of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." Cherry mumbled.

The villagers gasped as they soon looked to Arnold and they seemed to know him.

"Strange, they seem to know Arnold." Mo commented.

"I wonder how?" Patch whispered.

The Green-Eyed children soon carried Arnold on a palanquin, forcing the others to follow behind.

"What is this, The Road to El Dorado?" Cherry deadpanned.

"Come on, guys! We need your help!" Arnold told the villagers. "Our friends are prisoners of La Sombra!"

"Arnold... Arnold... Arnold..." The Green-Eyed children chanted his name still.

"Yeah. I got that." Arnold said from that.

"I think that's the only English word they know." Atticus said.

"What's their language for 'Where's the bathroom'?" Cherry grunted a bit uncomfortably.

The children soon came to a door which they opened to reveal a truly stunning paradise.

"Whoa! The Green-Eyed People's hidden city!" Arnold gasped.

"Amazing..." Atticus whispered in amazement.

"Arnold..." The Green-Eyed children continued.

"Yeah, yeah. 'Arnold'..." Helga imitated the children with a scoff. "We get it!"

"Do you notice anything strange about this place?" Gerald spoke up. "There are no grown-ups here."

"You're not the only one." Atticus said.

"That's the weird part?!" Helga deadpanned.

The children soon led Arnold to a curtained area which Arnold he approached. The curtain was pulled back to reveal a Green-Eyed girl wearing a very decorative tunic, the top of which is a topiary shaped like Arnold's head.

"Finally, a bigwig in charge!" Helga smirked.

"Literally." Gerald added.

"Bet it's another child." Patch said.

The queen soon revealed herself as another kid.

"What? She's a kid, too?" Helga complained while Patch smirked.

"Arnold." The queen greeted.

"Please, can you help us?" Arnold asked.

"You don't suppose she 'hablas Inglés'?" Helga asked Gerald.

"I doubt any of these kids speak English." Cherry said.

"I got this," Gerald said, going to the queen. "Hey, girl. How's it goin'?"

The Girl Queen walked right by Gerald and took Arnold's hand.

"What the--?" Helga glared.

"Man, why can't I ever be The Chosen One?" Gerald complained.

The Queen, Arnold, and the others came upon the city's centerpiece.

Helga put some distance between Arnold and the Girl Queen. "All right, close enough, sister!"

Arnold glanced at her for that.

"What?" Helga asked.

"Hey, Arnold, check it out!" Gerald pointed out to a mural with the king who seemed to be sleeping.

"The sleeping sickness..." Cherry and Atticus whispered from memory with what they heard about in Arnold's father's journal.

"This must be what they were wanting to show Arnold." Mo said.

"Yeah... The sleeping sickness that my parents had to cure." Arnold memorized.

"Arnold, Kashwa batiqua!" The queen soon said.

"I hope that's something good." Cherry remarked.

"Looks like she's giving us the grand tour." Gerald said about the young queen.

"It better be grand," Helga scoffed. "We've come a long way for this."

"We'll find out soon." Mo said.

"Look!" Gerald pointed out again. "There's a bunch of people sleeping over here, too!"

"So is this what happened to all the grown-ups in this joint?" Helga asked. "They're asleep?"

Arnold soon came upon a mural depicting his parents.

"That couple..." Atticus said as they looked a bit familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, but Arnold recognized them.

"Mom! Dad!" Arnold gasped before speaking to the young queen. "Do you know where they are? Please, do you know these people?"

"El dedwa kal dedu," The queen spoke in her native language. "O mashnee wateeb."

"Oh, my gosh. These paintings are like, straight out of my dad's journal!" Arnold gasped to the others. "That's the first time they brought the serum to the Green-Eyes."

"But then why aren't any of them awake?" Patch asked.

"Because they don't have the serum," Arnold put together. "The cure for the sleeping sickness, but at some point, they didn't have enough?" he then wondered.

"What's going on here, Arnold?" Gerald asked his best friend.

"My parents are making more of the cure?" Arnold shrugged.

"O mashnee wateeb," The queen spoke again. "Kashwa batiqua-al. Nee-fwash."

"What is she saying?" Cherry asked.

Atticus soon took out his Equestrian medallion and put it on. There was then a bright glow so that Atticus could understand what was going on.

"The Child of the Volcano must help with the Corazón." The queen soon said in plain English.

"Ohh." Atticus smiled.

"What?" Cherry asked. "What's going on?"

"They speak of the Child of the Volcano who I'm guessing is Arnold." Atticus replied.

"Uh, what am I supposed to do?" Arnold asked.

The Green-Eyed children began to uncover something to show Arnold so he could do what they wanted him to do.

"So, uh, what is he supposed to do?" Cleo asked.

"This... Whatever-it-is looks like the thing from the painting," Gerald suggested as he had an idea. "See? Up there. In the middle."

"Hey, yeah," Helga added. "And they've got the Corazón there, too."

"But I don't know what to do." Arnold said.

"I know what to do!" La Sombra's voice replied. "¡Buenos días, partner!"

"La Sombra?" Mo asked. "But how?"

"I've had a bit of help once I've been informed of your escape." La Sombra smirked.

"Like what? You put a tracking chip on one of us?" Cherry guessed.

"Ooh, you're a smart one." La Sombra smirked.

"What?!" Atticus asked. "But how did--" He then paused before his eyes widened. "The amulet!"

"Burt how? When?" Mo asked.

"I've been tracking you since the very beginning, Arnold." La Sombra smirked.

Atticus, Cherry, Cleo, Mo, and Patch soon growled from that.

"Yes. I used the Green-Eyed People's own treasure against them," La Sombra then boasted. "I thought it was a very clever evil touch. And after centuries of being hidden, you, Arnold, brought me right to them."

"Where are our friends?!" Helga demanded as La Sombra took the treasure.

"Ah, don't worry," La Sombra replied before looking around. "My guards are keeping an eye on them. Speaking of which, who is guarding this place?" he then saw that the Green-Eyed people were all children which surprised him. "Wait. You are all children?"

"Uh, doi!" Helga scoffed. "Welcome to five minutes ago!"

Patch and Cleo began to growl, ready to attack La Sombra.

"A hidden city, full of treasures and no guards, only children to stop me from taking it all?" La Sombra mocked. "Why stop at the Corazón?"

Patch and Cleo soon came toward La Sombra, looking quite angry.

"This is their security?" La Sombra rolled his eyes. "A mere puppy and a mangy kitty?"

Patch growled before showing that he wasn't a mere puppy as he lifted La Sombra. La Sombra yelped. Cleo gave a bit of a dark grin from that. The Green-Eyed kids then came to attack La Sombra for invading their home. Patch lowered La Sombra so then the Green-Eyed kids could attack. The queen pet Patch a bit.

"Ooh, that feels nice," Patch smiled. "A little behind the ears."

The queen soon did just that. Patch's left leg thumped up and down with his tail wagging.

"Careful, Patch!" Atticus warned as Patch's tail wagging was a bit stronger than most dogs like Krypto the Superdog.

Patch heard Atticus's warning and soon stopped his tail.

"Phew..." Atticus sighed.

"Ow!! How dare you?! Ah!" La Sombra complained as he got bombarded by the Green-Eyed children. "You meddling--You don't understand capitalism!"

Arnold soon took the bag and noticed his amulet was glowing again. La Sombra yelled out as he threw everything off of him before drawing out his machete and approached Arnold with it.

"No!" Atticus, Cherry, and Mo gasped from that.

Cleo yowled before jumping onto La Sombra's face. La Sombra yelled out.

"Eat CLAWS!" Cleo snapped, scratching his face with her tiny claws.

"Go, Cleo!" Patch cheered.

La Sombra grabbed a hold of Cleo, grunting and groaning in pain before he soon grabbed her and flung her against the wall. Cleo yowled and groaned in pain.

"Cleo!" Cherry cried out for her kitten.

"I can see we're not wanted here, Arnold," La Sombra glared. "¡Vámonos!"

"No!" Arnold cried out.

"No?" La Sombra laughed and soon grabbed him against his will. "I need you, partner!"

"Let him go!" Atticus glared as he brought out his sword.

"Ah, you wanna make this messy, do ya?" La Sombra smirked. "I have to admire your sword skills for a young man such as yourself."

"Let Arnold go now, La Sombra." Atticus glared.

"Hmm... No, I don't think I will," La Sombra smirked. "Unless you want to help us find the treasure."

Atticus simply glared at La Sombra as he kept his sword stance. Arnold grunted and struggled a bit.

"You try and stop me, you never see him again," La Sombra narrowed his eyes. "He'll end up just like his parents."

Atticus glared before lowering his sword, showing he wasn't going to risk Arnold's life. La Sombra backed away with Arnold then.

"LET GO!" Atticus demanded. "He's not helping you, dammit!"

"Atticus!" Cherry gasped from him swearing.

"I don't care, Cherry, I'm angry!" Atticus replied.

"Let Arnold go now!" Mo told La Sombra.

"He is coming with me and if you were smart, you would back away from me now!" La Sombra glared as he held Arnold hostage.

'He is heartless.' Patch thought to himself.

"You've made me angry, La Sombra," Atticus glared. "You'll never find that treasure with or without Arnold."

"I'll take my chances." La Sombra said coldly as he went to leave with Arnold.

'What do we do?' Mo thought to herself.

Cherry soon took out her Spell Phone as she made a call.

"Cherry? I thought you guys were in San Lorenzo?" Drell's voice replied.

"We kinda have a problem..." Cherry said nervously. "La Sombra took Arnold and he's forcing him to find the Green-Eyed people's treasure. Atticus tried to threaten him with his sword, but he kept on going."

"That's a problem with greed; it can make a man go crazy." Drell said.

"What do we do?!" Cherry asked.

"To save the treasure, Arnold will have to go there since he's the Child of the Volcano." Drell replied.

"Why do they even call him that?" Mo wondered.

"I think it's because Arnold was born in a temple and that saved the people from the volcano when it was about to erupt," Atticus said. "That was in Mr. Shortman's journal too."

"Bingo." Drell nodded.

"What're you saying?!" Cherry asked. "We let this La Sombra jerk take Arnold?!"

"Cherry, don't you watch Indiana Jones movies?" Drell replied. "The greedy villain never succeeds."

"Ohh, yeah." Cherry smirked.

"Do you want me to come over there?" Drell asked.

"Do we have a choice?" Cherry replied.

"Just looking out for you guys." Drell said innocently.

"Then yes." Mo said.

POOF!

Cherry and Mo coughed a bit from magic dust as Drell appeared in his vacation clothes, though mostly to stay cool while visiting San Lorenzo.

"Drell, I'm sorry, I tried to scare off La Sombra with my sword, but he just kept taking Arnold, and he even threw Cleo at the wall." Atticus pouted as he felt like a failure.

"Atticus, it's okay," Drell said. "You didn't fail."

"I didn't?" Atticus asked.

"Goodness, no!" Drell replied. "I know it looks bad, but if I know La Sombra, he'll fail instantly."

"Ugh, why does his name have to have Sombra in it?" Cherry groaned. "He trying to be like King Sombra?"

"Well, in this world, 'sombra' is Spanish for 'shadow', so I think he's trying to be mysterious." Drell replied.

"Hmm... I guess that fits... I still hate that name though." Cherry then said.

"So then was that the reason why King Sombra was given that name?" Atticus asked Drell.

"Heh... That could be..." Drell chuckled weakly. "I guess I never thought about that before. Most of the history I know dates back to when he met Cadence's mother as a young colt before meeting Celestia and Luna. Celestia and Sombra were very close a very long time ago."

"He must have been very kind before turning evil." Atticus said.

"Oh, of course," Drell replied. "Almost no one is born evil. Not even me."

"You? Evil?" Cherry asked. "Sure, I'd call you sleazy, a bit sadistic, and cynical, but... I don't know if I'd call you evil."

"Eh, some people used to see me as a villain when I first met you guys after Sabrina's birthday." Drell shrugged as he soon went to walk with them to go after La Sombra and Arnold.

"So then how did Sombra find that one spell that turned him evil?" Mo asked.

"How about we worry about Arnold right now and not King Sombra?" Drell suggested.

"I second that notion." Cherry said as she had a deep fear of the evil unicorn king.

We are soon shown a rickety rope bridge that looked like it could fall at any minute.

"Oh, sure, why not?" Drell asked sarcastically as he saw the bridge.

"A rope bridge?" Cherry asked. "Isn't that cliché?"

"More or less, yeah." Drell replied.

La Sombra and the still hostage Arnold came upon the clichéd rickety rope bridge. La Sombra onto a board, which broke, making them both scream.

"Come on." La Sombra growled, grabbing Arnold by his backpack strap, and a rope began to pull apart.

"Okay he is seriously overcome with greed." Mo said.

"Lots of treasure hunters are." Drell nodded.

"I guess." Cherry shrugged.

"Arnold!" Helga cried out.

"Stop!" Gerald added.

"Guys, wait!" Arnold told them. "Don't!"

"Oh, criminy!" Helga soon complained. "So, of course, I've got to go out on the stupid rope bridge to save the stupid Football Head."

"Oh, man," Gerald groaned to himself. "Can't believe I'm doing this."

"Oh, boy, here we go." Atticus gulped.

"I'd cross with you, but I'd probably make you all crash and fall." Drell said due to his size.

"Yeah." Cherry nodded in agreement.

"We'll see you on the other side?" Atticus asked.

"I'll see what I can do." Drell replied.

Atticus, Cherry, Mo, Cleo, and Patch soon went to cross with Helga and Gerald. La Sombra and Arnold reached the other side as La Sombra pushed Arnold to the ground. La Sombra was about to cut the bridge when Arnold stopped him.

"No!" Arnold gasped, trying to warn his friends. "Go back!"

"Not happening!" Atticus told him.

The rope soon snapped as the others held on with small yelps in fear of falling. The other ropes then snapped and the bridge fell forward as the group screamed a bit.

"Guys! Hang on!" Arnold cried out for his friends.

"Come here, Volcano Boy." La Sombra laughed as he grabbed a hold of Arnold again.

"Let me go! Ugh!" Arnold grunted.

"Ha! Let you go?" La Sombra mocked. "You are the only one who can open it!"

"I wouldn't if I were you." Drell said as he appeared.

"Where did you come from?" La Sombra glared at him.

"Oh, I have my ways." Drell smirked.

"Well, you're not going to stand in my way, Big Guy." La Sombra glared as he went to drag Arnold away.

"No! We need to save my friends!" Arnold cried out.

"First, open the Corazón!" La Sombra firmly told Arnold, brandishing his machete to the football-headed boy. "Then you can play with your little amigos."

"Take your time, Arnoldo!" Helga soon called out. "We just love hanging out here!"

"Please, hurry!" Cherry called out.

Drell soon knelt down and came to pull up the bridge to help the others up as La Sombra handled Arnold.

"Who's the big guy?" Helga asked.

"I have a name," Drell replied. "I am Drell, I look after Atticus, Cherry, and their friends."

"What kinda name is 'Drell'?" Helga rolled her eyes.

"I could always cut the rope." Drell threatened.

"Drell, don't you dare with us on here!" Cherry gasped.

"Uh, I guess Drell's a nice name, I wish it was mine." Helga said nervously then.

"That's what I thought." Drell smirked before pulling them up with the rope.

Atticus, Cherry, and Mo crawled over a bit. Cleo latched onto Drell's face which made Cherry snicker.

"Geeeeet off of me!" Drell groaned, pulling Cleo off of him and making Cherry hold onto her kitten. "Train that cat, will you?"

"Yes, sir." Cherry replied.

"Now about La Sombra, I say we let the last booby trap due him in." Drell said.

"Uh, sir, are you sure about that?" Atticus asked.

"Trust me," Drell whispered with a smirk and wink of the eye. "I know what I'm doing."

"Alright." Atticus shrugged.

"If you don't trust me..." Drell said, about to drop them.

"Like you would drop us." Cherry rolled her eyes.

"Nah..." Drell said, putting them back in place.

Arnold looked through the amulet which showed him what to do. He then pushed the top, and the head spun, revealing a different face. Arnold looked through the amulet again and pushed the corresponding buttons on the idol. After the head showed another different face, the idol opened its doors, revealing the sacred Corazón.

"Whoa..." Atticus, Cherry, Cleo, Mo, and Patch whispered in amazement.

"It's the heart of gold!" Arnold gasped.

"Out of my way!" La Sombra shoved Arnold out of the way, going to the literal and physical heart of gold.

"And by grabbing the heart, he'll be shot with a dart full of poison." Drell smirked.

The others glanced at him.

"No spoilers!" Cherry complained, covering her ears. "Ugh..."

"Ah, you'll live." Drell ignored that.

"So beautiful," La Sombra grinned eagerly. "And it's all mine."

The idol changed to the angry face and blew a poisonous dart at the evil man. La Sombra grunted from that, falling over the cliff and soon screamed as he fell a very long way down. The group looked a bit wide-eyed in horror as it seemed like La Sombra was now dead just like that.

"Called it." Drell said.

Cherry soon looked over, muttering a bit anxiously.

"Well, he's dead." Drell shrugged off.

"Uh, guys, is it just me or did he have something in his hands when he fell?" Mo asked.

"His own greed?" Cherry replied.

"Cherry, this is serious." Mo groaned.

"Well, I didn't see anything." Cherry shrugged.

"What did it look like?" Drell asked Mo.

"Some kind of good luck charm, I think." Mo replied.

"Well, at least he didn't the golden heart." Patch said.

"He never will." Drell replied mysteriously.

"Thank goodness you all survived La Sombra." A voice said to them.

"Please let that voice belong to someone that we can trust." Mo begged.

The figure soon stepped into the light to reveal himself.


	8. Chapter 8

"Eduardo!" Arnold gasped. "It's really you?"

"Hello, my--" The man began.

"Wait. Not another 'Eduardo'! "Your parents' trusted friend with a mustache?" Helga scoffed, trying to pull on Eduardo's facial hair. "Ha! I've heard that before! Why should we trust him?"

"Maybe because his facial hair is real." Drell told her.

"So, sir, where did you come from?" Cherry soon asked Eduardo.

"I have been following you since your class came to San Lorenzo," Eduardo replied. "I suspected that La Sombra would use you to get to the Green-Eyed People somehow. They broke into my place and kidnapped me. I escaped, but got to the dock too late. I had to chase you in another boat."

"Oh!" Gerald suddenly remembered. "On the river! We thought we were being attacked by pirates."

"No, it was me," Eduardo explained. "I lost you at the rapids, but I was able to pick up your trail where you crashed."

"That's good." Drell said.

"Are you their teacher?" Eduardo asked Drell.

"I'm mostly with this bunch here." Drell said, gesturing to Atticus, Cherry, and Mo.

"Where did you even come from?" Helga asked. "Did one of you get cell service I don't know about?"

Atticus, Mo, Patch, Cleo, and Cherry simply shrugged.

"Emergency contact," Drell replied before patting Cherry on the head to show a caring side. "Like I said, I keep a good eye on this bunch."

Cherry groaned and removed his hand in annoyance.

"I'm so glad you're here!" Arnold said to Eduardo in relief. "We found the Green-Eyed People's hidden city! It's where my parents disappeared."

"So, then, you have seen them?" Eduardo asked him. "Miles and Stella are... Are alive?"

"I... I don't know!" Arnold replied.

"Of course they're alive!" Drell said like it was obvious. "After all, they caught the sleep sickness themselves."

"What?!" The others asked.

"What?" Drell replied. "You didn't see that coming?"

"Yes, how did you know?" Eduardo asked Drell.

"That's not important," Drell replied. "Let's get these kids to Arnold's parents."

"So, you finally caught up to us, Eduardo!" La Sombra's voice growled before he was shown to be climbing up the cliff, looking sickly green like a zombie due to the poisonous dart. "You call that a mustache?!"

"Yes, he does because it's real." Drell told him.

"Gee, La Sombra, you're looking a little green." Cherry remarked.

"Did you think you could get away with this, La Sombra?" Eduardo soon glared. "Miles and Stella protected the Green-Eyed People from you, and now their son will, too."

Arnold smiled sheepishly at this.

"Always so presumptuous," La Sombra glared, taking the dart out of his forehead. "They're not safe yet!"

"The only one that isn't safe is you." Drell told La Sombra.

La Sombra growled as he soon went to fight off Eduardo. Drell went to move the kids out of the way since this would be dangerous for them.

"This man is seriously crazy with greed," Mo said, referring to La Sombra. "Even a poison dart can't stop him."

"What'd I tell you?" Drell replied.

"You weren't kidding," Cherry said. "He's worse than Ursula's friend, Lyle."

"Ah, that's right," Drell replied. "You've met Lyle van de Groot."

"Yeah, I'm hoping when I take Atticus to meet George and Ursula that I don't run into him again." Cherry murmured.

"Who knows?" Drell shrugged.

"Wouldn't you?" Cherry smirked.

"Hmm..." Drell hummed firmly.

Eduardo and La Sombra soon fought as La Sombra attempted to stick the dart in Eduardo. Helga then covered La Sombra's face with his bag, and Gerald and Arnold held him down, but the evil man kicked them away, and unintentionally caused the Corazón to fall off the stone.

"Oh! Give it to me!" La Sombra called out. "It's mine!"

The Corazón soon fell down into the mist, lost forever.

"Oh, no." Cherry mumbled.

"You pest!" La Sombra glared as he grabbed a hold of Arnold. "Just like your parents! I'm going to throw you over the cliff! Go get it!"

"This is it." Drell told Atticus, Cherry, and Mo.

Cleo hoped that everything would be alright. The poison soon took its final toll on La Sombra, but not before he tore the amulet off of Arnold's neck and then plummeted to his death into the ravine below.

"Now he's gone." Drell told the group who felt a bit horrified over what happened.

"He died the way he lived: full of poison." Eduardo remarked.

"Yep." Drell nodded.

"The Corazón!" Arnold cried out. "It was sacred to them! Now it's... Gone."

"Hey, Football Head, we're alive, okay?" Helga told him. "Now, let's go back to that hidden city and find out what happened to your parents."

"One question: How are we gonna get back over there?" Gerald then asked.

"Um, I prefer the stone bridge myself." Eduardo suggested, showing the aforementioned bridge.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that?" Drell then asked.

Atticus, Cherry, and Mo then anime fell from that. Cleo soon jumped and began to scratch at Drell's face for forgetting to mention the stone bridge.

"Augh! Get off of me!" Drell called out.

Cleo soon got back on the ground, still looking angry at Drell. Drell soon cleaned himself up a bit with his own glare to the kitten.

"Jerk!" Cleo glared.

"Thief." Drell retorted.

"I haven't stolen anything at all!" Cleo told him.

"Mm-hmm..." Drell replied, knowing how Cleo could be since her mother just so happened to be Catwoman's favorite cat.

They soon crossed the stone bridge to go into a hidden city.

"What are we going to tell them?" Mo asked.

"Uh... Tell who?" Cherry glanced at her out of confusion.

"The Green-Eyed children." Mo reminded her.

"Ohh... Um... Uh...." Cherry stammered, a bit unsure.

The queen gasped as she was then shown. "Arnold, what is going on?" she then asked in her language.

"Where are Miles and Stella?" Eduardo asked in the language back as Atticus listened with his medallion along with the others who had any.

"Stand back!" The queen told her people before looking back to Eduardo. "Follow me and I will take you to see the parents of the Child of the Volcano."

"Thank you." Atticus smiled.

"What?" Arnold asked. "What's going on?"

"Arnold, your parents are here," Eduardo explained. "She will take us to where they lie."

The group soon went to follow the queen before the Green-Eyed children let them pass and they showed Arnold a fortress which revealed a brown-haired woman and a blonde-haired man, joining hands as they were lying together on a stone bed with white streaks in their hair, possibly due to aging.

"So they've been here this whole time." Mo said.

"Crazy..." Cherry commented in a bit of shock.

Arnold gasped as he saw his parents for the first time since he was a baby. "Dad? Mom? It's me."

Miles and Stella didn't respond to their son.

"Arnold..." Helga said softly in concern.

"Are they...?" Arnold frowned worriedly.

"No, no," Eduardo told him. "It's the sleeping sickness, from over nine years ago."

"So then where is the serum to wake them and the other adults here up?" Atticus asked.

"The Child of the Volcano has to help wake everyone up with the heart of gold." The queen spoke up.

"They believe that you are the one to open the Corazón, and with the heart of gold inside, you would awaken the sleeping parents and reunite them with their children." Eduardo told Arnold.

"The Corazón... Was the cure?" Arnold asked in surprise.

"But... It went over the cliff." Gerald memorized.

"We have to tell her what happened." Arnold suggested.

"But... That'll crush her." Cherry said.

"Is lying any better though?" Drell rhetorically asked.

Cherry sighed softly. "No."

"Um, I'm afraid the heart of gold went over the cliff." Atticus told the queen as his Equestrian Medallion glowed so the queen would understand.

"How did it happen?" The queen frowned.

"I'm afraid it was La Sombra." Atticus replied.

The queen soon began to cry with her people as this was devastating news for them all.

"Was the heart of gold the key to spreading the serum to all the adults that have the sleeping sickness?" Mo asked Drell.

"Oh, yeah," Drell nodded. "It was very crucial. Not even my magic can solve this problem."

"What if we used something that was the same shape and size as the heart?" Mo asked.

"But what?" Patch pondered as he scratched behind his ear with a leg.

Helga suddenly got an idea and ran off.

"Oh, sure, just leave in a time of need." Cherry shrugged.

"I think she just went to the temple." Mo replied.

"Something tells me she's going to use her heart-shaped locket." Cleo said.

"Oh... I guess I didn't think of that." Cherry replied.

At the temple...

Helga approached the stone wheel as Arnold came behind her.

"Helga, what are you doing?" Arnold asked the girl.

"This must be it!" Helga replied. "You were supposed to put the heart of gold here, and then, well, something would happen. I'm not a scientist."

"I know what this is," Eduardo spoke up as he and the others caught up to the pair. "These are the controls to a machine Miles told me about. The Green-Eyed People would put herbal formulas in the center altar, and the machine would spread them aromatically."

"My dad and mom knew about this!" Arnold gasped in vast excitement. "It's in the mural! So, instead of herbs..." he then gasped as he found something else. "Look! They put the cure right here, so it could cure the whole city at once!"

"Now all we need is the key." Drell said.

"I... Might have something that would work," Helga said bashfully as she revealed her locket. "It's, uh, a heart."

Arnold looked in shock.

"I think it could fit," Helga continued. "This is just gold-plated. It's not a very pure heart."

"I don't know," Arnold said to her. "I think your heart is more pure than you know."

"Try it." Drell told Helga.

Helga blushed from Arnold and soon gave Arnold the locket and he attempted to place it in the center of the wheel, with a little bit of difficulty.

"I don't think that's right, Arnold." Atticus said.

Arnold looked sheepish as he kept trying which soon annoyed Helga.

"You are such a football head." Helga complained as she then turned the locket and locked it in place, causing the city to rumble.

"I have a good feeling about that." Drell said.

"If you have a good feeling; I feel scared." Cherry said to him.

"Just trust me." Drell replied.

"It is working!" The queen soon announced, making Drell smirk while Cherry looked bashful.

"Wahoo!" Patch cheered.

The Green-Eyed children soon cheered out of excitement. The machine continued to work and open all the roofs of the sleeping parents.

"And now for the awakening." The queen then said.

An eruption geyser then occurred in the center temple.

"Arnold, get ready for the butterflies," The queen told the football-headed boy. "Your parents will be with you soon. And now, let the adults wake up!"

"Let's go see them wake up." Mo said.

The group soon wandered out a bit as this was very important and nice for the Green-Eyed People, but also Arnold.

"Okay, what's going on?" Helga asked, feeling totally lost.

"There's butterflies," Arnold said. "Wait, could that mean...?"

Atticus nodded as that was what the queen told them in her native language. The Green-Eyed adults all began to wake up and reunite with their children as Arnold ran to his parents. The group began to follow after him.

In the room, the couple soon sat up as they finally woke up before seeing their son and recognized him instantly. "Hey... Arnold..." they then smiled to him.

'Somehow I knew they'd recognize him.' Drell thought to himself.

Arnold soon hugged his parents as the butterflies flew around, clearing the sky as everything was going to be alright now. Cherry was heard sniffling before the others looked to her as she seemed to be crying happily for Arnold to be with his parents again. Drell soon gave Cherry some tissues. Cherry took them, wiping her eyes a bit.

"It's okay... It's okay..." Drell soothed her a bit. "You're really growing as a person."

"I think you are too." Cherry replied.

"I sure am." Drell nodded.

"Must've been when Cherry got Hilda to give you another chance before getting married." Atticus smiled.

"Augh!" Cherry groaned as she hated being reminded of that as it was the start of earning her Element of Harmony which was Empathy.

"Can we go to that music festival now?" Cleo asked Cherry.

"Sure," Cherry rolled her eyes. "As long as it's right after we come home from this adventure."

"Yes, you will." Drell nodded.

Cherry grinned with two thumb's up.

"But I should warn you about an Equestrian relic that--" Drell began.

"Let's wrap this up already then." Cherry said before going with Atticus and Mo as Arnold helped his parents up to their feet.

"Can rewind time back to the start of one day." Drell finished with a sigh.

The young queen's mother soon retrieved the crown that was rightfully hers, and she is happily reunited with the Green-Eyed People's rulers.

"Arnold... Arnold... Arnold... Arnold... Arnold... Arnold..." The Green-Eyed people soon chanted.

"Looks like you finished the work we started, Arnold." Stella smiled.

"I'm so proud of you, son." Miles added.

"He is your son." Drell told Arnold's parents.

Miles and Stella smiled as they looked very proud.

"I'm Zelda Spellman's brother-in-law." Drell told them.

"Zelda Spellman, now that's a name I haven't heard in quite some time." Stella replied.

"She's doing great." Drell said.

Miles and Stella smiled a bit.

"How about Diana?" Miles then asked.

"Oh, she's much happier now." Drell smirked a bit since he was able to let Edward and Diana remarry and to spend more time with Sabrina since the Council disapproved of mortal/witch marriages in the past.

"Yep," Mo smiled. "She and Edward are remarried."

"Oh, that sounds nice," Miles smiled back. "She was a very good friend of Stella's."

"Has anyone seen Helga?" Atticus soon wondered.

Cleo was soon coming up to the stone temple and soon began to take Helga's locket out of the wheel, she normally would've wanted to keep it for herself, but soon decided it would be better if the girl who gave up her prized possession would have it back. Luckily, she didn't have to search for said girl for long.

"Hey, Helga." Arnold's voice said.

"Ah!" Helga gasped before looking to him after kneeling to Cleo to get her locket back. "Hey, Arnold."

"Helga, I've known you my whole life, practically, and you've always been angry," Arnold spoke to the blonde girl. "And kinda... Y'know, mean."

Cleo saw that being mentioned.

"Yeah! ...So?" Helga huffed at first.

"But... I've also seen you be really loyal and super brave," Arnold soon continued to the blonde girl. "So I always wondered if maybe you were mean to me because... Well, you loved me."

"Love? You?" Helga asked before shaking her head before laughing cockily. "Well, yeah, sure, I mean, like I love a root canal! Haha!"

"Listen, I know you tried to tell me before, and I wasn't ready to hear it," Arnold then said. "But now, this whole thing: the trip to San Lorenzo, getting away from La Sombra, finding my parents; it's all 'cuzof you. Your locket..."

"Locket?" Helga asked. "What locket?"

Cleo then swatted the locket over to Helga's feet.

"Your locket, it woke up my parents!" Arnold then exclaimed. "You did it all, just to help me. And... And..." he soon held her hands and kissed her out of thanks.

'About time.' Cleo thought to herself.

Gerald soon came by and smirked to his best friend a bit with kissing Helga. Arnold and Helga pulled away from each other as Helga whistled innocently.

"Okay, now I've seen everything!" Gerald then smirked.

Cleo nodded in agreement.

"Arnold's finally back with his parents," Atticus said. "It almost feels like a dream."

"Yeah." Mo smiled.

"Maybe it IS all a dream." Cherry said.

"What?! No! It can't be!" Atticus gasped.

"We did all this work!" Mo added.

Cherry snickered a bit to show that she was just kidding around.

"Not funny." Patch said.

"Your faces." Cherry still snickered.

Patch soon growled a bit, backing her up against the stone temple.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" Cherry said nervously.

"That's a good girl," Drell smirked before asking the adventure group a question. "Oh, before I forget; did you kids ever wonder if Aladdin ever really was a prince named Ali and the rumors that Genie made up were real about him?"

"Uhh..." The group paused as that seemed to be a random question. That was until one of them thought of a reason as to why he asked that question.

"Okay, is this relating to an adventure we'll be going on or is it an adventure that we get to watch?" Atticus asked.

"That you get to watch." Drell said.

"Sweet!" Atticus then said.

"So... What? It's a what-if on if Aladdin was an actual prince or what?" Cherry then asked.

"Yep, it's a what-if kind of adventure." Drell said.

"So, how do the us in the what-if adventure meet him and Jasmine?" Mo asked.

"Oh, that's easy; Mo, Cherry, you two are close friends to Jasmine while Atticus and Patch are close friends with Ali and Abu who is his pet monkey," Drell said. "And he does have a magic carpet from his father and as for Genie, well, the me in that adventure uses his magic to make it appear in his 'Merchandise' to sell and guess who buys it for a birthday present for his close friend?"

"Ow. My head." Cherry muttered.

"Ah, you'll get the hang of it when it's time to see all of this," Drell said. "After you guys come home of course with Arnold and his parents."

"Let me guess; it's either Ali or Atticus." Mo said.

"Ali is the one that buys the magic lamp." Drell said.

"Of course," Atticus replied. "All right."

"It's gonna be a looong ride home..." Drell told them. "Hope you have essays on what you did over summer vacation."

The adventure group sweat-dropped a bit to that.

"I'm kidding; no one has to know about the Green-Eyed people." Drell said.

"Heh, yeah," Cherry replied. "I mean, they seem elusive and sacred."

"Exactly!" Drell said. "As far as everyone else in school is concerned, none of this ever happened."

"I think that's a good idea." Stella agreed with him.

"I agree." Cherry said before cupping her mouth as she looked like she wanted to throw up from agreeing with Drell.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Grr... curse my weakness of ending a story with an odd number of chapters...

Sometime later, they were soon back in Arnold's home. It was a very nice reunion for everyone, though Arnold seemed to be very exhausted from his big jungle adventure. And when he woke up, he had thought it was a dream.

"Mom? Dad?" The boy muttered to himself as he soon woke up and went to go downstairs.

Hey, Gramps, what's for breakfast?!" Ernie glared at Arnold's grandfather. "I'm starvin' over here, starvin'!"

"Make me a sandwich, old man!" Oskar added.

"Crispy fries and a tofu burger for me, please, and step on it!" Mr. Hyunh demanded.

"Do you want to rush them with the food in the kitchen then?" Drell asked Mr. Hyunh.

"I just want my food." Mr. Hyunh replied.

"You'll get it when you get it." Drell retorted.

Arnold began to look teary-eyed as he felt like he had dreamed up everything that had happened in San Lorenzo.

"Sheesh, you're worse than Sabrina's Uncle Quigley." Cherry mumbled to Mr. Hyunh.

"Breakfast is served!" Stella announced as she soon came by. "Eggs in a basket!"

"Don't you mean toad-in-a-hole?" Grandma smiled to her daughter-in-law.

"We call it eggs in a basket." Stella smiled back to her mother-in-law.

"Mm." Mo smiled.

"Finally, someone with some sense around here!" Ernie smiled to the couple.

"No disrespect, but you've both been asleep for 10 years," Grandpa said to the younger couple. "What do you know about breakfast?"

"Mom! Dad!" Arnold beamed happily. "You're really back!"

"Hey, Arnold!" Miles and Stella smiled to their son.

"Of course they're really back." Cherry said.

"Were you having that same dream again where you never found us?" Miles asked his son.

"Yeah, the same dream I've been having all summer." Arnold nodded.

"It's no dream, Arnold," Stella smiled. "You really came and rescued us, and now we're really back home with you. What do you say we go on an adventure today?" she then suggested. "I read that the City Botanical Gardens has a new rainforest exhibit."

"You forget that Arnold has school." Drell reminded.

"Oh, of course!" Stella replied. "We knew that."

"Sure," Miles added. "We're hip."

Drell rolled his eyes a bit from that, shaking his head before looking to Atticus, Cherry, and Mo. "And time for you to go back home." he then said.

"Right." Atticus nodded.

"We're sure Patch and Cleo are ready to head back home." Mo said.

Patch and Cleo were shown to be with Abner, hanging out until it was time for them to go.

"So why do you eat bacon if you're a pig?" Cleo asked.

"Tastes great." Abner beamed.

"Can't argue there." Patch smiled.

"Speaking of which!" Abner beamed as Arnold came by.

"C'mon, Abner." Arnold smiled, giving his pet pig some bacon.

And just like last time, Abner enjoyed eating the bacon.

"Creepy..." Mr. Hyunh shuddered from that.

"Who is that cute little blonde boy?" Grandma soon asked, seeming to forget about her grandson.

"Your grandson." Drell reminded her.

"Oh, that's right," Grandma smiled. "You're such a smart and handsome young man."

"Well..." Cherry was about to say until pausing. "...Half out of three ain't bad?"

Drell glanced at her for that.

"Let's go home." Cherry soon said.

"Agreed." Mo said.

Drell soon took the others into his car to take them back home as Arnold and his friends would be starting their new school year. It would begin a new tradition with Arnold's parents taking him to school. On the way out of Hilwood, the adventure group soon noticed that Helga's parents were very horrible to her, such as her father calling her the wrong name and sort of barking orders at her and her mother seemed to neglect her and forget about her, seeming very unstable. Atticus, Cherry, Mo, and Patch narrowed their eyes in anger and disgust from that. Drell could understand why they felt this way and used his magic to make Helga's parents better.

"Can I bite the dad?" Patch smirked.

"And then I claw the mom's face?" Cleo added.

"That won't be necessary." Drell replied.

"Why?" The adventure group asked.

"I used some magic and changed them to the perfect parents for Helga." Drell said.

The adventure group looked to him and soon looked back.

"Have a good day at school, Helga." Big Bob soon told his younger daughter.

"And just to make sure, I've made you a very healthy and nutritious lunch, but I gave you a homemade brownie for dessert." Miriam added, taking out a lunchbox as her voice sounded very different now.

"Let's see how Helga reacts." Mo said.

Helga looked very confused.

"We love you!" Big Bob and Miriam smiled as they hugged their younger daughter.

"Uh, thanks, Mom... Thanks, Dad..." Helga said, not sure how to feel before pinching herself a bit. "Ow!"

"I think everything's going to be just fine from here." Drell told the adventure group.

"Sounds good to know," Cherry replied. "I guess we go home now?"

"Yeah, let's go home." Drell nodded as he went to drive them back home.

"So, when do we see this Aladdin thing?" Mo then asked.

"I guess whenever you're free since you're antsy about going to the Starswirled Music Festival." Drell shrugged.

"How about after the festival?" Atticus asked.

"As long as you don't forget about our deal." Drell said.

"Ah, we won't," Mo replied. "It'll be interesting though."

"Yeah, it does." Patch nodded.

"I can go too, right?" Cleo asked. "I didn't steal anything."

"All right, Cleo, you can come too," Cherry then said. "Also, I'm sure Spike won't chase you even though he's a dog and you're a cat."

"I hope he's a nice dog." Cleo shivered, feeling scared about meeting Spike, but she had nothing to worry about.

"Don't worry, he is a nice dog." Patch smiled.

"I guess so," Cleo said. "Animals can go to this thing?"

"Yes, Cleo, it'll be fine," Cherry told her kitten. "Maybe we can see PostCrush with Sunset Shimmer."

"Hmm..." Cleo smiled thoughtfully as that soon excited her so she would stop worrying despite being excited earlier.

"Alright then." Drell said.

They soon made it back home and decided to go rest up for the upcoming music festival since the jungle adventure took a lot out of them.

The End


End file.
